


Understuck

by Livvykitty



Category: Homestuck, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Characters to be added later, Glitchtale, Mentions of past child abuse, Multi, Post-Sburb, also dave is a kid, death mention, lots of feels, terezi and vriska are moirails, the ultimate crossover, there's lots of friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-05-06 02:25:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 85,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5399354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livvykitty/pseuds/Livvykitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>= = = > DAVE: Notice the Door opening behind you.</p><p>What?</p><p>The thing that you hear next is a small creak coming from the Door that you just so happen to be standing in front of, back to it so that you can watch all of your friends. Terezi is the first one to notice something, probably sniffing it out with that keen snout of hers, and before long Rose’s head snaps towards your direction too, eyes slowly widening as she let go of Kanaya’s hand, using it to latch onto one needlewand as the other raises to point.</p><p>You think that she says something, maybe something along the lines of, “Behind you!” but you don’t get the chance to see it clearly. As your head turns, you catch a glimpse of a black mass there, one with a white face. You have no time to react. And even if you did, what the hell would you do? This is something from the universe that you all created- this is one of your creations, technically, and it’s apparently strong enough to open up this literal Door to the Void.</p><p>You have no time to react as a skeletal hand clamps over your mouth and drags you back, through the Door.</p><p>(Formerly known as Glitch Tale, Original AU by Homofrost on tumblr. Thanks for letting me do this!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: The Fall into Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Thanks for deciding to read this! :) Please check out the creator of Glitchtale's tumblr, homofrost.tumblr.com

**_= = = > DAVE: Examine the Door._ **

And yes, that Door had to be capitalized, because as it just so happened, this shit was about as important as the cinematic climax of an Indiana Jones flick, complete with soundtrack and flying boulders galore. It’s a wonder that nothing has come through the Door and declared that all this was some fucked up trap that you would have to go through.

Your name is DAVE STRIDER, and you are staring at the door that’s supposed to take you to a new universe, which you just happen to be one of the Gods of.

If you were to say that you aren’t at least a little bit nervous, that wouldn’t really be the truth. Sure, you might try to tell yourself that it is, and that you’re just fine, thank you very much, but Rose wouldn’t allow that. You’d probably only needed to think it and then bam, Rose would suddenly be there faster than a starving bloodhound with a nose for inner turmoil, telling you flatly not to do that, that bottling up your emotions isn’t something that was healthy and is something that you need to work on fixing. To appease your sister, you’d just told her that you’d work on it, jesus, no need to get on your damn case. Then that would be the end of that shit.

You look around yourself, at the people that are there. Miraculously, you and all the other humans survived. Even your brother-and-sort-of-father is there, in those stupid poofy princely pantaloons of his, looking towards the Door that would lead everyone to the universe frog that Jade had made. To the right, of course, are the trolls.

At least, the trolls that ended up surviving that maelstrom of bullshit that happened on the meteor.

Karkat is standing there yelling at John, as high strung as he normally is, with Terezi and Vriska snickering over his shoulders, twin Cheshire Cats who look like they just caught an entire flock of birds instead of just one measly canary. Kanaya’s there, holding your ecto-sister’s hand as casually as could be while also looking so fluffy and mushy with her that it makes you gag internally. You can literally feel all of your teeth rotting out of your mouth. No vitamin C can save your gums from this onslaught of romantic bullshit.

Then you have Jade talking to Calliope and Roxy, really chatting it up like a couple of really excited canaries that somehow got away from the Sapphic Sisters’ sharp toothed jaws, and then there’s Jake hanging around the fridge that still held the clownfucker with your brother and the Mayor, who seemed adamant on showing them how to make a suitable Town Hall that any can could enjoy. Good on him, the little dude, good on him.

Really though, that left the question of why the hell isn’t anyone doing anything?

Okay sure, you’ve all just gotten through the final battle, and yeah you’re pretty tired and you sort of want to sleep for the next millennia, but ultimately the Door is there. You all could just go, right now, and get through it, get into your new universe and chill out as the Gods of everything. No extra waiting needed, not for you all. And frankly, you’ve all waited for long enough. Paradox space is honestly worse than the DMV, and since that in and of itself was an accomplishment. You sort of don’t want to break up the touching reunions and all, especially since until just a few moments ago you were having them yourself, but you are honestly itching so badly to get through this shit that it isn’t even funny.

Besides, it’s not as if you’re too happy to be here, where all that fighting and shit that you hate used to be. You want to honestly forget all of that shit. Even for a little while.

**_= = = > DAVE: Notice the Door opening behind you._ **

What?

The thing that you hear next is a small creak coming from the Door that you just so happen to be standing in front of, back to it so that you can watch all of your friends. Terezi is the first one to notice something, probably sniffing it out with that keen snout of hers, and before long Rose’s head snaps towards your direction too, eyes slowly widening as she let go of Kanaya’s hand, using it to latch onto one needlewand as the other raises to point.

You think that she says something, maybe something along the lines of, “Behind you!” but you don’t get the chance to see it clearly. As your head turns, you catch a glimpse of a black mass there, one with a white face. You have no time to react. And even if you did, what the hell would you do? This is something from the universe that you all created- this is one of your creations, technically, and it’s apparently strong enough to open up this literal Door to the Void.

You have no time to react as a skeletal hand clamps over your mouth and drags you back, through the Door.

_**= = = > ALICE: Fall into Wonderland** _

Your name is still Dave Strider, and while you may not be falling into any Wonderland, you sure as hell are still fucking falling.

You didn’t even know the Door would lead to this. You just thought that this would maybe lead you into the world, on solid ground, not drop you from what feels like a few stories up high into some dark abyss below. You can’t make anything out in the darkness- you just keep falling, and the worst part of it all is, no matter how much you fucking try, you can’t even bring up the energy within yourself to float, or maybe to fly up to the point where you were dropped from.

There’s something falling down with you, and you realize belatedly that it has the weirdest fucking face, white and cracked, like a shattered mask with a grin, or maybe like a fractured skull. It’s literally the weirdest fucking thing, and coupled with the feeling of falling endlessly into nothing it’s like you can’t even breathe. Those old commercials with the people on them, advertising heart attack meds and showing visuals of having an elephant sitting on their chests did fuck all in this situation. It’s like an entire zoo has taken up residence on your body, pressing down with the force of a hundred stinking animals and children screaming and throwing tantrums. When the feeling of things pressing inwards, as if you are being compressed in on yourself, starts you know for a damn fact that this shit not only takes the cake, but is probably selling it illegally on the black market with a side of your kidneys.

Then, your back is hitting against something, and everything goes black.

**_= = = > KARKAT: Try to remain calm about the situation._ **

How the FUCK are you supposed to remain calm like this?!

Your name is KARKAT VANTAS, and the worst possible thing just happened. You honestly shouldn’t be really surprised at this point- the entirety of existence is dedicated to shoving seven rusty machetes down your protein shoot, so why the fuck would you be? This shit just isn’t something that should be able to fly.

Right now, all of you are on an empty platform, with no Door to be seen. Dave was just spirited away to fuck knows where by some liquid skeleton creature before the Door to your new universe, the one you and your friends have been fucking working towards for sweeps, is gone.

And the kicker?

**There’s a fucking human child in a stupid striped sweater where the Door was.**


	2. Part 1: A New World and Determination

**_= = = > Be the Fallen Human_ **

Unfortunately, that just isn’t possible, because even though you’ve reset hundreds of times before in your search to find the Happy Ending for everyone, this time, you aren’t the Fallen Human. That title is being given to... someone else.

Your name is FRISK. You WERE the Fallen Human- you’ve been through the Underground thousands of times, knowing exactly what would happen every time with all of those monsters you’ve come to regard as family. Despite this, though, now something new has happened. You aren’t just the Fallen Human this time. In fact, you didn’t even fall into this world. You were so close to a reset, too, when there was a man.

You don’t know what he said to you, since his hands moved in a blur and you can’t sign that fast, but he took you away and stripped you of the power to reset. In a way, it’s a bit of a relief. You can’t keep searching forever, after all, no matter how much you truly want to.

It keeps you from what you thought about doing.

But now you’re stuck, thrust through some door onto a platform and left there with others. There are a lot in this crowd of people- and it sort of scares you, especially the amount of humans that are here. You know that humans can be kind, but at the same time, you know exactly what they’re capable of. And why on Earth are there so many here, looking so strange too, in funny pajamas that sort of suit them but were also so brightly colored? Then, though, your eyes are drawn from the seven humans to the five other creatures with them.

You have never seen creatures like these before! They’re even more different from the monsters that you saw in the Underground, and they all seem to be the same species. All with grey skin, horns, and black hair. You wonder if they’re actually a kind of monster too, all related in some way, like Napstablook and his ghost cousins. You aren’t really given much time to ponder over every question that is popping into your head (like just what is that creature in a Mayor’s sash?), because after a moment, one of the new creatures there begins to absolutely panic, in such an explosive way that you’re surprised he doesn’t start throwing spears.

“What the FUCK?” This one is shorter than most here, stocky, with a nice fluffy sweater. You really like his taste in fashion already, though you clap your hands over your ears politely. Toriel wouldn’t want you hearing those words- even if she occasionally accidentally let them slip out herself. “There’s a GODDAMN HUMAN GRUB here?! The Door’s gone, _Dave’s_ gone, motherfucking-!”

One of the other creatures- monsters?- like him clamps a hand over his mouth. She’s pretty, with a long red skirt that flows to her ankles and short hair. She also seems to be a small giantess among them, because she’s taller than all of the humans and other grey skinned monsters there, with long limbs and a slender frame. For a moment, you expect to hear some sarcastic commentary from the small spirit who often follows you along on your adventures, but no- even the child with rosy cheeks can’t hop through magic doors, it seems. The tall horned figure gives you a sheepish little smile, and you can see the humans there, murmuring between themselves, and two of the new creatures are whispering, heads held together so they can hear better.

All of this is making you nervous. You know what it’s like to be stared at a lot, sure; after all, you were on Mettaton’s shows, and you always made sure to sing with Shyren. But you don’t like this kind of attention. They all don’t really know what to do with you, and it’s a little scary to think about the possibility of the humans there being awful.

So of course, your first instinct is to move to your feet and walk towards the creatures who aren’t human. The tall one in the red skirt seems surprised, intrigued even, and a human in pretty orange pajamas looks to her with raised eyebrows. The two grey girls, one with a strange left eye and the other with red shades, stops and look over to you, seemingly just as confused as everyone else is. You aren’t going to them though, not yet. You’re going to the one who wants to curse up a storm, the one who is distraught.

He really isn’t very tall, but you’re still a child, so really you come up to his stomach, but you reach up and try to pat him. You watch as he sort of freezes, bristling up as his pupils seem to narrow into slits. He’s looking to his other friends, and the one with the skirt looks at him sternly. No cussing, you guess the look says.

Then you hear the human in orange suggest, “Karkat, why don’t you pick them up?” The boy- Karkat, you now know- looks startled. Much like a cat, now that you think about it. Karkat really is a name that suits him! Karkat looks down at you for a few moments before picking you up. He does it by the armpits, holding you away from himself like you’re some strange disease or a new thing that he can’t identify. You simply reach out and pat him.

He looks oddly at you for a moment, and your arm is sort of getting tired from how far you have to stretch, but thankfully that alleviates when he pulls you a little closer, inspecting you, squinting a bit. “The hell are you doing?”

You pat his cheeks and hair, and find that his hair is as soft as a kitten’s. You may not have seen any of those in the Underground, but you’re glad that you found something similar to that out here. You’ll have to tell Catty and Bratty about this- they would love to meet this strange new person.

“Stop it.” You don’t stop, but he is looking remarkably more relaxed around you than before, and that’s good. “God fucking dammit…” He just sighs, and you finally do stop, looking around to the others. The human in orange seems bemused, staying very close to the horned woman in the red skirt, even though she’s about a foot taller than her, leaning on her slightly. The ones in beige and dark blue seem excited, and with the blonde hair and pink eyes of one and the chubby frame of the other, you’re reminded of Bratty and Catty. The one with the silly poofy pants doesn’t really have an expression on his face, which is kind of unnerving, and the one with no pants on (did he forget to put them on this morning?) was grinning wide. You could have sworn that there was a seventh human, but it seems that they’ve disappeared somehow. The one in blue seems just confused.

The two grey girls who sort of look like sisters just kind of watch you carefully. You figure that you’d be safe enough with the strange new monsters here and turn back to Karkat, signing, Hello!

He just stares at you for a second, not really comprehending, before saying, “Well fuck, I don’t know sign language.” The others look a bit surprised, and then the strange black shelled creature, who looks more like a normal monster than any of those here, moves over to where you are and tugs on Karkat’s sweater. They’re even smaller than him, and they’re hopping up so excitedly too! You like this “Mayor” character already.

Then, they holds out a piece of purple chalk, just the color of the stripes on your sweater, and you understand what they’re suggesting. Write. No one here seems to know ASL, so you will have to just write what you mean to say to them.

You look at Karkat and point to the ground, and he lets you down, not really dropping you and pulling his hands away awkwardly. You go over to the little monster, take the chalk, settle down on the ground, and then write. _/Thank you for the chalk!/_ The Mayor seems to be pleased by their contribution, clapping their hands and sitting back to watch.

You look up as the human with pink eyes comes, crouching down near you, though not too close. You are certainly thankful for the space. “Well hey there, cutiepie! Now, I’m just curious- what’s a sweet little thing like you doing here?” You knew a question like this would come up.

_/The man who doesn’t exist normally brought me here. I was resetting./_

“Resetting what?” comes the voice of the orange clad human, and you think that she and the one with pink eyes may be related. They certainly look similar- like mother and daughter. You aren’t sure if you can explain, exactly, so for now you simply write, _/Not sure how to explain. It’s a very long story. Longer than most stories, anyway./_

The boy in blue pads up, and you shift away, because he is very close to you and you never know when a fight might start. Even monsters in the underground who didn’t want to fight you, like poor Whimsum and Shyren, could stumble into a fight unwittingly. You really don’t want to get into a fight so soon out of the Underground. He says, “Hey, kid! I’m not sure if you know this, but we’re all pretty used to long stories. It can’t be any longer than Aranea’s, haha. But… could we know your name? Kinda better than calling you kid.” That’s easily done, and you write, _/I am Frisk./_

“Frisk.” The human with the strange pointy sunglasses is there in the blink of an eye, and he’s sort of unnerving, especially with such a grave expression on his face. You don’t like how serious he looks. It makes you think that something bad has happened, something awful, like someone died. For him, it could be true, and you don’t like that thought. No one deserves to lose anyone. The male speaks, looking down at you, “There was someone else pulled through the Door, by this man you’re talking about. Do you have any idea what might have happened to him?”

You try to think for a moment. You can remember some of what the man had signed, though it’s only in snatches, since he signed so very fast, almost faster than your eyes could see. You think you remember some of what he said to you, and you look up at this human before looking down to the ground of this platform and writing, _/Yet again, this is a very long story, but I can explain it. The short version of it is this-/_

_/Whoever was pulled through the door is now the Fallen Human./_

**_= = = > Be the Fallen Human_ **

Your name is DAVE STRIDER, and all you know is, your back hurts like a bitch.

When your eyes finally blink open, you have to squint them, because the sunlight streaming from above is both unexpected and also jamming knives into your eyeballs and gently scooping them out with an ice cream scooper to be served with whipped cream and a cherry on top. Your eyes close against the light, because fuck, you are not used to that. You’ve only felt sunlight in dreambubbles over the last three years, and of course the occasional time when you’ve had to step out into the rays of the Green Sun, but even then, this all seems so… weird. This is normal Earth sunlight.

You slowly sit up, and you can see what you landed on. There’s a large patch of buttercups around you, normal Earth flowers that are so alien and out of place to you that you have to stare. You’ve never seen flowers in real life, not when you were in the apartment with Bro, and especially not in the steaming Satanic asshole that was LOHAC. You don’t really remember if you saw them on LOFAF, since you kind of died there and were mostly focused on frog hunting, but the point still stands.

You feel around for where your shades could have gone, because besides making you look like the badass motherfucker that you are, they sort of protect your eyes against all of the sunlight that is currently threatening to set them on fire and make your head spontaneously combust. The bright yellow flowers in front of your face really aren’t helping matters, that’s for fucking sure.

You eventually find your shades and put them right back on your nose, thankfully making every bright color there a bit dimmer and more bearable on those red eyes of yours. Just as you’re getting up, your fingers brush against the hilt of your sword. You wonder where the hell that came from- it hasn’t been out of your strife specibus in a while, so why are you suddenly finding it right here? All you do is mutter, “The hell…?” to yourself before standing up straighter. Your voice sounds weird as hell. It’s higher than normal, and not at all at a falsetto as you speak, so you wonder why that suddenly is. Was it pollen inhalation? Okay, whatever, time to take inventory on all of this shit.

“I’m in a fucking hole. Lovely.” You grumble to yourself, because while you’re not nervous in the fucking least, you’d rather be able to hear some sound other than the flowers moving around you, “God dammit.” You look up again towards the sunlight, and the way you figure, you could probably just float out and see what there is to see. You do what you normally do when you want to fly- you just sort of think to yourself, ‘wow flying would sure be nice right now’. Normally, it works and you’re floating, but instead, you’re just kind of up on your toes and straining upwards.

“What the actual fuck.” spills out of your mouth, because god dammit, you aren’t able to fly. Did walking through that Door take away your sweet godly abilities? You don’t want to believe it, but it’s a possibility. You stop trying, figuring that you probably look fucking stupid, and look around yourself. This hole looks fucking enormous, and you almost don’t notice the path as you turn in a slow circle. Almost. You do notice the path, and since there’s no Door to be found and no way up, the only thing you can really do is go down it.

You walk through the small patch of flowers and move onto the dirt, watching shit get dimmer than a Victoria’s Secret trying to set the ambience for people getting their frilly underwear and way overpriced bras. Dads would be trying to just get through everything, trooping through battlefields of lacey cloth to just get through it all with minimal scarring. You walk through, imagining Jane’s dad trying to awkwardly do it and get in and out and you actually have to work at suppressing the smile that threatens to come up. Nope, gotta keep up the poker face- besides, you look fucking stupid when you smile.

You soon come to a place where there’s another bit of light, and then you have to stop. A flower just pops up through the ground, a big one too, one that’s reaching up to about your waist. And then the flower is fucking talking.

“Howdy!”

Well that sure as hell is a thing.

All you can do is watch for a moment before saying, “Well, fuck. I’m hopped up on something. This ain’t just some Alice in Wonderland shit- I’m literally being accosted by a talking goddamn flower. Did that skeletal fuck put a happy paper on my tongue while I was passed out or what? What’s next, are the dancing pink elephants gonna come out too? Are we just gonna be making this a full on Disney crossover of drugs and hallucinations?”

The flower kind of stares at you for a moment, with this weird look on its face, kind of blank but at the same time way too happy. Then it just keeps on talking as if you haven’t said a word. “Well anyway! I’m Flowey! Flowey the Flower! Hm… You’re new to the Underground, arentcha?”

“Wow, what would give you that impression?” You ask, sarcastically as always. After all, it’s probably pretty obvious, especially since you yourself are in no way a talking flower. Sure you might have some pollen stuck to your bare legs, but you have no petals or dainty shit in sight. Though, the sight of your bare legs reminds you of something. Where the cocksucking hell is your cape? That’s just disappeared, apparently along with your long pants, because now you’re wearing shorts with a long sleeved sweater. What kind of fashion choice was that? Fuck that, you needed some sweatpants or something, because unnervingly enough, your legs aren’t littered with as many scars as before. What the fuck.

“Golly, you must be so confused!” Hell yeah you’re confused. A talking flower that’s tall enough to reach up to your waist and bite is literally talking to you. If you were still a kid, stranger danger would be all over this situation. “Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little ol’ me will have to do!” You wonder vaguely how this little shit will be doing that, because for some reason you really, really don’t trust this situation. You don’t trust most situations, to be fair, but this is some straight up bullshit. “Ready? Here we go!”

What happens next is the weirdest thing. You look around, and suddenly there’s this fucking box around you. Flowey is right in front of you, in his own little box, smiling that blank smile of his. This shit looks like the weirdest game mechanics you’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something since in Sburb you could literally see gaming abstractions like health bars and grist. Then, you see the red heart in front of you, branded with the Time symbol that probably still has some significance, even there on this thing. “See that heart?” Flowey asks, and you hold yourself back from giving the answer of yes you see the heart, you’re not fucking blind, “That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being! Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV.” You’re pretty sure that floating red heart there isn’t your soul, or if it is, it probably should be… Out of your chest. This is all fucking weird.

“What does LV stand for?” You’re about to say ‘level’, the most obvious shit, when the plant bastard just keeps going. “Why, LOVE, of course! You want your LOVE to grow, right…?” The flower trails off, and then the smile drops off of his face. Fucking finally. You were getting tired of that phony shit. Then though, the flower has this look on his face, like you’re something different. Something that leaves a bad taste in his mouth. “Hey, kid… where’d you get all that LOVE? That’s more than you can get, even in the Underground, if you…”

Flowey’s face twists into something else, melting and reforming into a large smile that reminds you of those monsters you see in storybooks, with the giant gaping mouths, but this thing has human like teeth. That’s pretty fucked up, and then, you and that heart that you guess is a soul are surrounded by bullets. “Hey, Flowey, what the actual fuck? Cool it with the bullets man. I don’t want to be pumped full of holes- I’m not some goddamn cheese.”

“You know EXACTLY what’s going on.” Flowey says, voice distorted, the high and happy tone being replaced with some growly, garbled shit, “You know how it is! Why else would your LOVE already be at 30? No, no- you understand the law of this world. You can try to hide it by using that innocent child shtick, but there’s no denying it. It’s KILL or BE KILLED.” The bullets are getting closer, forming a tight circle around you, and you try to reach inwards and pull on the Time powers that you know you have. You may not have learned the mechanics when it came to time traveling, but you did at least take it upon yourself to learn how to at least slow down and speed up time around yourself. But nothing happens- the bullets don’t stop.

Instead, they get suddenly faster, and they hit your soul, and you honestly can’t understand the pain that’s spreading throughout your whole body. It’s like being shot up again, back on LOFAF, with Jack in front and behind you, leaving you bloody. But this time, there’s no blood. Just dozens of bullets that you can’t see, and the flower’s laughing, but you can’t get to him with your sword. Then, suddenly, it stops, and there’s a ball of fire.

Flowey is blown away, and the box around you dissolves, leaving you free to turn. It… doesn’t hurt anymore, surprisingly, and you’re breathing hard, gripping onto the hilt of your sword just in case this new creature would try the same thing. That’s when you see an enormous goat woman, and you suddenly think that Jade or Aradia would love this place. Jade always did have that thing with anthropomorphic fauna, and Aradia just really liked goats, so it makes perfect sense to you. Jade would eat her semi-furry little heart out. You’re about to open your mouth, ask who the hell she is, but she beats you to the punch.

“Ah, do not be afraid, my child!” She smiles, and even though she’s fucking enormous, tall enough so that you only come to her waist (even though you’re starting to suspect that there’s a different reason for why things are so fucking big, and it’s definitely not a Honey I Shrunk the Kids situation), she actually seems… kind of nice. “My name is Toriel. I am the caretaker of the Ruins.” She comes closer to you, clasping her furry hands together and smiling down at you, as if pleased. That’s honestly a little fucking weird. “I come here every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to have fallen in a long time.” She pauses after that statement though, looking him over with a furrowed brow. You get your sword ready. Just in case. She shakes her head gently though, as if expelling a thought. “Well, in any case, my child- may I have your name?”

Okay, yeah, you can do that much. “The name’s Dave. Dave Strider, resident Knight of Time, at your service.” You contemplate doing some silly and frivolous thing, like bowing with your sword, but then deem it too childish.

Toriel seems to find what you say amusing though, smiling a bit and chuckling to herself. “Ah yes, a brave knight. I feel safer already, having such a warrior here to protect me.” That irks you a bit, because she’s talking to you as if you’re a kid. Which, you realize, is probably the best explanation for why shit is bigger than it should be. Huh. That certainly is a thing, isn’t it. You’ve just sort of de-aged. You’re pulled from your thoughts as Toriel talks again. “Well then, Sir Knight, allow me to guide you through the catacombs.” She turns and moves ahead, saying, “Come, my child- this way.” You follow along after her, not really sure what you can say in this situation. For right now, you’re still processing everything. So, to recap- a talking flower just tried to kill you, all because your LOVE was too high, apparently, before a giant goat woman appeared, saved you with fire powers, and now is leading you through some Ruins. You’re also a child and can’t use any of your God Tier abilities.

Even if this is sort of unnerving, you find that you’re actually pretty okay with all of it. It’s not that bad, in any case, and even then, you figure that it could be sort of fun, being a kid again. You kind of never got the chance to do that kind of shit with Bro around. Toriel is moving up some stairs, and as you look up, you see the shadow of the most purple ruins looming overhead. You’re reminded of Derse, and that thought sort of surprises you, but then again, Derse was just as big and threatening. You move up to a point where there are red leaves, and you think you can see something shining in them.

You look up. The shadow of the Ruins looms overhead, like the towers of Derse used to do. Even though this place’s pillars didn’t reach up into the sky (or ceiling, or whatever the fuck happened there, in any case), you can’t help the feeling running through your chest, smacking against your ribcage and acting like all the butterflies that normally reside in people’s stomachs have flown up to avoid being digested in a brutal display.

**One could say that you’re filled with DETERMINATION.**


	3. Part 2: Going to-Toriel and Mysterious Circumstances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will admit, I was a bit unsure about my portrayal of Dave here, but then again, he's out of his element and in the body of a child so ??? any feedback would be appreciated

**_DAVE: Get your head out of the clouds!_ **

Wow, those thoughts you just had are kind of weird. Just where the hell did those thoughts about determination come from? It isn’t as if there’s much to be determined about, other than getting through these Ruins to whatever door leads you out and hopefully to some places that might have some information about the fucker who dragged you into this place. 

You decide to just scrap this line of thought, because the giant goat- Toriel, that’s what she said her name is- is waiting for you, watching with a bemused look. You can think about whatever weird, childish voice you heard in your head later, when you’re alone and able to actually listen to yourself speak. You don’t want to be seen as crazy by this monster woman, not so soon after you met her. You aren’t sure what she would do to you then, but with her size and yours at the moment, you can definitely guess that it can cause real damage.

You follow after her, and she seems pleased enough to have you following her, which is weird. She keeps smiling at you, even though she doesn’t really know you, which is also weird as fuck. You’d smile back, but you aren’t really sure if that’s an appropriate course of action, or if that would just break your cool facade or what. You are a kid again, after all, meaning that you’ll have to work double time on maintaining optimum cool levels. After all, who suspected a kid in an oversized sweater to be anything cool? You’ve already lost enough points with your fashion, even though you didn’t choose this at all. You’ll have to find a new look. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll just find some shit laying around. You simply pull your sweater down a bit and pause, thinking that maybe you heard a snort of laughter behind you.

You look, but there’s nothing there. You guess that you’re just imagining shit.

You seriously hope that this being a kid shit doesn’t have any effects on your mental state. You really don’t want to be throwing temper tantrums, especially since you’re technically sixteen years old, and you sure as hell don’t want to do some stupid childish shit that will cause you to get your ass kicked to the next calendar year, where you’d just be neck deep in horses. Fuck those things- those might have been Dirk’s thing, but you weren’t exactly a fan of big ass hellbeasts like those, that’s for sure, especially hellbeasts that can cause more damage to your much softer body now that you’re a little under four feet and haven’t built up muscle yet, leaving your scrawny ass way too vulnerable. Gotta figure out a way to build up the patented Strider fortress again, make sure that you aren’t quite as weak or easily hit.

You’ll have to solve that entire issue with age shit later on. You might be able to scrape up some of the dredges of the god tier ability that’s gone now, if there’s some left, coffee grounds left over from the particularly horrible and bitter cup of fuck you that life just shoved down your throat. Maybe you can at least make yourself a few years older, to about when you were able to start scraping up enough food for yourself so that you aren’t malnourished as shit.

The next room has a heavy stone door, just as purple as everything else, and Toriel walks over to some weird white pedestals in the floor. Then she steps on them in some pattern, and lo and behold, the door opens with a simple lever pull after that before you can properly think the words ‘open sesame’. Toriel turns back to you and smiles, in that giddy little way that she has, saying, “Welcome to your new home, innocent one!” Innocent? You? You want to snort. God, if only she had seen some of the shit that you and Karkat had done back on the meteor, drawing all those dicks in Rose’s book and watching those gross romcoms together. You are far from innocent. You don’t mention that, though, instead letting her finish, “Allow me to educate you in the operations of the Ruins.”

Oh God, this is all like the tutorial for a game, at least to Toriel.

When you realize, a few moments later, that Toriel’s name is a goddamn pun, you want to shove your face into the purple stone blocks of the wall and groan into whatever black as shit void is inside of them. You don’t want to interrupt this motherly figure, though, and besides, listening to her quietly is actually keeping you from doing some stupid and uncool shit like what you feel the urge to do.

“The Ruins are full of puzzles, ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to proceed from room to room.” Why the hell are there even puzzles here in the first place? Does it have to do with some bullshit quest nonsense, like in Sburb? Is it to test people’s wits or intelligence or whatever non sequitur thing that really can only help stall for time in a quest and make it longer? You seriously hope that there is an explanation for this other than some bullshit answer of ‘maybe it’s just how the world works’.

“Okay, but why the hell is this place filled with puzzles?” When you see Toriel’s face shift, you suddenly regret the words that came out of your mouth. It’s weird, because back with Bro, you never really got a stern look like what she’s giving you. You usually got an even colder glare than usual before you got your ass kicked. You expect a hand to raise, but instead, she continues to look at you sternly, watching you carefully even as you take a small step back. 

“My child,” she says, and weirdly enough she doesn’t sound that angry, “I would appreciate it if you did not use such language. It is not appropriate for you, yes? Now, as for why there are so many puzzles, there is a simple explanation for that.” 

That’s weird. That’s so fucked up. Her face is already softening, expression shifting from stern to a soft little smile that showed her fangs. It sort of makes you want to run the fuck away, get out of dodge, because the nice ones always end up hitting the worst and she’s probably nothing short of a harpy out of hell. You’ll have to be on guard for that, and not let whatever weird warmness in your heart (or is it soul?) distract you from it. To cover up the fact that you’re currently on vigilance for the moment when she snaps, you say, “Then yeah, an explanation would be great, because normally the explanation consists of ‘that's just how it f-, uh just goes’.” Nice one, Strider, you just saved yourself from any wrath for now.

“No, I assure you, the reason these are here are for a very good one! Think back to any history lessons you might have had- after the war between humans and monsters, we were all driven here, Underground.” Whoa whoa whoa, hold the goddamn phone. They were all just driven down here? You wonder what the hell would cause all of that. “We feared that the humans might come down through the seal and kill us, so we set these puzzles to impede their progress so that we could retreat farther down.” And that seemed to conclude that explanation, which actually… makes a lot more sense than you would have thought. You thought that this was all going to be some shitty mechanic, but no, it has a part in the laws of this world. 

“Alright. That makes sense.” You cede, and she nods in quite a satisfied way, walking into the next room. You follow after her, and immediately find a few levers on the wall, two of which have bright yellow arrows pointing to them. Toriel seems to think that you apparently have the intelligence of a five year old, because she proceeds to carefully explain what the next puzzle is without even pausing to let you get a word in edgewise.

“To progress, you will need to trigger several switches.” She smiles, moving ahead and over a small bridge while gesturing to the switches on the wall. “Do not worry, for I have labelled the ones that you need to flip.” She smiles warmly at you and waits, and you take that as your cue to keep going.

You go to the first switch, and say, “Yep, you definitely did label them. I’m fairly sure that if there was a hole cut into the ceiling, they would be able to see this sh- stuff,” You already feel like you’re going to have a shit time remembering not to cuss in front of the giant goat monster, “from outer space. It’s brighter than all the stars in the Milky Way and Andromeda, like several enormous stars just imploded in on themselves in a pretty small tract of the empty void of the universe.” One switch is flipped, and then you move to flip the other, all while Toriel regards you with some look on her face. It’s not really anything bad- fond, maybe. Kind of like how Karkat looks at all of his shitty romcoms.

“My child, how can you be a knight but also know how it is in the sky?” She sounds amused, and as you flip the switch, the spikes at the end of the room are down. You’re about to answer her when she moves over to you, clapping her hands excitedly. “Ah, splendid! I am proud of you, little one. Let us move to the next room- perhaps you would also like to explain how a knight has gone to the stars to another friend.” She moves on, and you pause for a few seconds.

That’s so weird, and really, it’s kind of… nice. All you really did was flip a couple of levers, which were already brightly labeled to begin with. It’s not like you just created a universe (even though you sort of did) or survived being dropped ten stories from the rooftop during a strife, and even then, even during those times you were never told that someone was proud of you. You feel stupid, because right now, you want to smile, even though you really just did something mundane and even though you need to pull yourself out of the stupid wallowing that you keep slipping into. Somehow, you keep being drawn back to thoughts of how it was with Bro. Oh boo fucking hoo, you had a rough childhood and your biological daddy wasn’t nice to you, so much so that it was abusive, big deal. You have bigger problems than that, problems that didn’t need you to be thinking about that, especially since now it’s over. Namely, getting out of here before what’s-her-name completely flips the switch and goes harpy bitch on your ass.

You’re pulled from your thoughts when Toriel pokes her head back into the room, looking at you worriedly. “My child? Is something the matter? Do you, perhaps, feel apprehensive about proceeding through this place?” And of course, contrary to any of your thoughts she seems for all the world to just be a worried little lady who’s wondering why you haven’t moved ahead yet. So of course, you start walking, shrugging a bit to forget all that stupid emotional baggage.

“Nah, it’s cool. I just found, uh, a cool looking bug.” That’s a lie, but her smile is still sincere even as she nods, leading into the next room.

She turns to you, gesturing for you to step up to a training dummy. You don’t remember seeing them often, since any on the meteor were swiftly and systematically destroyed with quick precision by any trolls training with them. “Now, as a human living in the Underground, monsters may wish to attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a fight.” Well, now we’re talking. This shit is what you know. This is the shit you’re good at. In fact, you could even say that you are the shit when it comes down to fighting. You hate it, sure, but at least now you’re at a familiar subject. Besides, what does it matter if you wreck another monster? You squeeze your hand around the hilt of your sword, when Toriel suddenly throws a high arcing curveball that completely swerves away from you with no intention of ever knocking against your noggin. 

“While you are in a fight, strike up a friendly conversation! Stall for time, and I shall come to resolve the conflict.”

What?

You stare at Toriel for a moment, because there’s no way in hell that shit actually works. If something comes after you, if a monster comes for your throat and is ready to rip into it, you need to be ready to slice them into ribbons so that they don’t try again. That was drilled into you from day one, and pounded into your skull with a jackhammer during Sburb after that fight with Union Jack. You may try to be a pacifist, but ultimately, that has to fail sometime, right? There’s always going to be at least someone who’s going to be determined enough to want you dead. But then again, you guess that this is a good thing?

Finally, you actually have a choice here. You don’t have to go in guns blazing like normal. So when Toriel gently instructs you with the words, “Practice talking to the dummy.” you actually loosen your grip on your sword. You know the dummy can’t hurt you anyway, and even then, you can afford to humor Toriel on this. You can afford to be a pacifist in this case and not completely dismantle the thing.

You look at the dummy and then suddenly, it’s like that entire situation with Flowey and those boxes, except this time, there are four floating buttons in front of you. FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY all flash a bright yellow at you, and you think you know what the fight button does already. You don’t need that tutorial. The Mercy and Act buttons, though, those are new. Back in Sburb, it was always a fight or flight situation- you either killed the hell out of those imps and ogres or you let yourself die. 

You still aren’t entirely sure about all this shit, but you press the Act button, and then there’s the option to talk or check out this thing. You sort of want to get this over with, though. The way that Toriel is watching this battle from the sidelines, looking at you expectantly with that weird smile on her face is sort of freaky, and the sooner you get it all over with the better, in your opinion. You just choose to talk, saying a quick hey.  _ It doesn’t seem much for conversation _ , and you’re about to agree with that when you realize that there was a voice that you would be agreeing with in the first place, what the fuck. 

As the box dissolves and you look around yourself, looking for whatever little shit was messing with you at that time, you suddenly realize that you had a totally sweet rap that you could have belted out then. Shit, next time, what you need to do is rap at the thing. You’ll have to keep this in mind if she gives you another dummy that she wants you to pacify into submission. You’re torn from your thoughts when she says, in such a goddamn sincere way that it actually makes your heart ache, “Very good! You are very good, my child.” 

She walks on to the next room, and wow the way that she calls you ‘good’ shouldn’t make your chest feel all weird and tingly. This isn’t some fucked up porno- you should feel pissed to be referred to as good, because fuck that noise, you’re Dave Strider. You are the epitome of cool.

Even then, you’re following after, even letting yourself get closer to her. Fuck, she’s what any kid would want- sweet as an apple pie left out in the sun too long and patient as any exasperated parent with a wailing two year old might be, always there and offering encouragement and praise that would make anyone embarrassed. Even as she hums, musing aloud, “I wonder if you can solve this puzzle?” it’s all with this fondness, like she actually wants to be around the little shits that all children were. 

Of course you’re quick to reply to her, because you don’t want to tip her off to anything that you’re thinking about. “Yeah, I can solve this all pretty easily. What d’ya think this is, “let’s play Earthbound with junior in the womb”? I could totally get this.” You look along the ground and, weirdly enough, the dirt in that area is lighter than normal. You guess that probably has some significance, and that’s confirmed when you look at a piece of paper on the wall, saying that the next room is that other room’s blueprint. Toriel stands guard near that bed of spikes while you jog back quickly and have a look, and then you’re back, totally able to get through this. “Yeah, I got this. Just let me go ahead through here, and then we’ll be fine.

Toriel is about to move, but hesitates, looking down at you for a moment before saying, “I’m sure you see that this is the puzzle, but… Well, take my hand for a moment.” She really doesn’t really give you too much of a choice, because already her hand closes around yours in this really gentle way, like she’s afraid that she’ll break all the bones in your body if she presses down with even one pinky. You want to say, newsflash, you don’t have glass bones and paper skin or break your arms and legs every day, so she can lay off on the handholding. You may look eight, but you really aren’t, and even if you  _ were _ eight you still wouldn’t need to be coddled like this because you’re made of tougher stuff than that.

You don’t say that. Instead, you follow her through the spikes and stay close to her, just in case.

When you make it on the other side, she looks down at you, still holding your hand even as she says, “My apologies, my little knight, but it appears that even puzzles like this are a little too dangerous for now. Perhaps when you are just a tad older.” She squeezes your hand, as if trying to reassure you, before letting go and then walking on, leaving you to just stand there for a moment and try to reason with yourself, because there’s no way in fucking hell that it’s this easy. There’s always a catch- your biological mother is technically your age, for instance, your brother stopped doing this when you were five and needed to train. 

You still haven’t figured out just what this goat woman’s angle is, or if there isn’t one, how the universe is going to fuck you up the ass with sharpened icicles and end up making this situation hell for you. You don’t linger this time, not like the last time- you don’t want Toriel to get too worried, after all- but even then, you really can’t shake off a thought that’s sort of bubbling up under your skin.

Why the hell do you want to call Toriel “mom”?

You look up at Toriel and she says, looking as proud as a goddamn pet owner at the Westminster Dog Show, “You have done excellently thus far, my child. I would expect nothing less of a knight, of course, but even the bravest might have some trouble with the request that I have. I’m afraid that what I ask of you will be difficult.” She looks nervous now, and this is it, this is exactly what you were waiting for. The catch. The “difficult thing” that life was going to shove right down your throat. You aren’t even sure why you let yourself be phased at all by any of this. You should have just spent more time preparing yourself.

Instead Toriel says, “I would like you to walk to the end of this room by yourself. Forgive me for this.” Well, that certainly was a thing. That wasn’t what you were expecting at all. You were expecting something else, like maybe she wanted you to kill something, or read the entirety of the Bee Movie script while annoying 90s pop played in the background. 

You just shrug and say, “Alright.” You watch as she walks away as you start walking by yourself, left alone with your thoughts. Funny, the one chance you have in this place to let your thoughts torment you most, let them cause major earthquakes in your brain and make the hippocampus split apart with volcanic eruptions and you are cool as a cat hanging around a jazz club in the peak years of speakeasies. Being alone isn’t that bad, even if you do end up a bit disconcerted by the silence. Being with someone so overwhelmingly, completely motherly, that was throwing off your A-game.

The walk is fairly uneventful, and when you get to the end of the room, what you find is Toriel peeking from behind a rather large pillar. Then she’s coming out, smiling so warmly that fuck, there goes your heart again. You actually should probably get that looked at by a doctor sometime, because you don’t actually think that living for three years on a goddamn meteor and eating alchemized food of questionable quality is actually good for you. “Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not leave you.”

Those words shouldn’t strike a chord, but they do. “Yeah, trust me Toriel, I didn’t worry about that for a second.” And you’re actually pretty surprised that you can say that sincerely, because you literally just met this woman, and you had no prior links to her She isn’t like Dirk, who you sort of vaguely knew but also didn’t, and she wasn’t like Roxy, who you definitely knew after a bit. She was a complete stranger to you. 

“Dave, you do not know how much that means to me. Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this.” Wait, there is? Shit, was this like some sort of weird test? You always fucking sucked at those. “This was to test your independence. I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a little while. Please remain here- it’s dangerous to explore by yourself.”

Honestly, you are completely nonplussed by any of this. Being left alone for a bit while Toriel did her own thing? That was alright. You can handle a bit of alone time. You’re about to say so when she suddenly picks right back up, digging around in the pocket of her dress. “Ah, I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone! If you have a need for anything, just call.” 

Whoa, that was literally the last thing that you expected. When she hands you the most outdated piece of shit in existence, you take it anyway, asking, “Wait, how the he-  _ heck _ do you get cell reception down here? How do you even have phones?” And furthermore, why the fuck was she just carrying an extra phone in her pocket?

She smiles, chuckling a bit before answering, “Well, that’s a mystery for now. I will explain to you after all of my errands have been completed. Be good, alright?” You nod and then she gives one last little smile before she’s gone out the room.

For a few minutes, you just hold the phone in your hands and wait, using the time to both wait for Toriel to be far enough away and mentally process that massive tutorial that you were just given. In any case, after a few minutes, you decide to step into the next room to, what else, do some exploring. As nice as this apparent goat mom was and as sweet as it was that you got a new (or rather, hella beat up and prehistoric) cell phone, you couldn’t just stay cooped up in one little space for too long, otherwise you might just go insane. No, a Strider’s a drifter, and they sure as hell don’t take orders from anyone. Besides, this place seemed so goddamn tame that it was almost nauseating.

So really, what’s that worst that can happen?

**_= = = > JADE: Report to your friends that the worst has happened_ **

Your name is JADE HARLEY, and this truly is the very  _ worst _ thing that could have happened!

You were there when the Door disappeared, leaving a child there, and of course the very first thing you could do was disappear to move around the space beyond the platform, trying to find the Door again. After all, even if it wasn’t where it was originally, it had to be  _ somewhere _ . There are the laws of equivalent exchange in order- there is still a gateway open between this place and your new universe, so therefore that meant that the Door had to be somewhere! You had searched everywhere you possibly could throughout that empty space.

You had looked in the void of nothingness, among the horrorterrors that lay just a bit beyond that, and then around the Universe Frog itself, trying to find just where the hell the Door went, and that’s when you found something perturbing. You had tried to approach the Door when you found it, but ultimately, it disappeared before you could even touch the handle. You found the Door in such similar ways to this several more times, but every time, it simply moved away, just out of your reach. Not even your speed or omniscience could track it, and more disconcertingly, you aren’t able to see into your frog. You don’t know what’s going on with Dave.

That turn of events brings you to now, floating gently back to the platform where all your friends, human and troll, stand. Terezi seems to be conferencing with Rose about something, while Dirk is watching the human child, no real expression crossing his face. Jake and Jane and Roxy are in a small group together with John, and then there’s Karkat with the Mayor, watching as the little kid in the cute sweater that seemed a little bit too big on them tug on Kanaya’s skirt, pointing to the small plans for Can Town. 

It’s so strange, but at the same time, interesting! The human child doesn’t seem to be in the least bit afraid of the trolls, despite being so young. In fact, they seem to actually be really comfortable with them, if the way that they settle down into Kanaya’s lap as she sits down on the ground is any indication. 

You smile at that before heading over to where Rose and Terezi are, ready to give your little report of the events that you’ll have to tell them about. You wait for them to finish talking, with Rose’s finishing statement seeming to be, “Well, we shall simply have to see about that.” Then they take notice of you and they turn, with Terezi grinning widely and Rose looking rather grave, as she asked, “And what have you found, Harley?”

“Well, I found the Door, but we aren’t going to be able to go through it.” You explain, frowning a bit, “Whenever I got close to it, it just disappeared again! It seems that whatever force took Dave is actively keeping us out of our own universe, keeping the Door from being accessible. Not to mention, we have another problem. I can’t see into the universe.” Rose seems a bit alarmed there, and the smile seems to be dropping somewhat on Terezi’s face. For a moment, the three of you look to each other, thinking about the next thing to say. Rose worries her lip in her teeth for a moment, before she makes a sort of startling admission.

“I can’t See into it either.” That’s definitely disturbing, and then Terezi gives a small growl, cursing to herself. She turns her head towards you (or like, an inch to your left, but close enough in your general direction that it feels as if she’s looking at you), and then she’s talking too.

“Dammit! I can’t see any outcomes for Dave. I can see all the outcomes for  _ us _ \- there are so many ways that this timeline can tank. But I can’t see shit in there!” This is definitely bad. Not only could no one get to the Door, no one was even able to see into the universe that Dave was pulled into. You thought, before, that it wouldn’t be this bad. After all, the trolls had been able to see into your universe before, so why would this be any different? Apparently, though, this entire situation was definitely something special, because the Seers couldn’t see.

“We’ve been blinded.” Rose says, letting out a small breath. “Something is keeping us from seeing what’s going on with our universe and our friend. Whatever is happening, we will have to proceed with caution.”

“Not to mention, we’ll have to work twice as hard now,” Terezi chimes in, annoyed by this situation. “We’re essentially useless in the sight department. Fuck, we’re Seers who can’t See- this isn’t just going to be a minor inconvenience. Someone planned on this. Someone knew that we could See, and is interfering.”

There is an uncomfortable silence, because just what could be strong enough to blind two Seers?

After a moment, Rose ends up saying, “We all will have to figure out modes of living, in the meantime. Since we have some time to think on that, why don’t you introduce yourself to the child? I’m sure that they would love to meet another new face.” 

“Right!” You say, deciding to cheer up just a bit. After all, kids were always so cute and adorable! You can’t imagine that anything bad could ever come out of this, even if you’ve never actually seen a human child in real life and in the flesh. Then, however, you pause for just a moment, looking over to the human child before turning back to Rose. “Uh… I sort of can’t tell if they’re a girl or boy?”

“Oh, that!” Terezi snickers, shaking her head, “The John human tried to ask them that, whether they were male or female, but they just puffed right up and put their hands on their hips. Then they wrote that their gender was ‘Papyrus’. After that, Rose just guessed that they were nonbinary and didn’t want to be called either!”

“Oh, that makes sense!” You say, because it honestly does, and then you go off to talk to the little human child, leaving Rose and Terezi to talk to each other and to Vriska, who walks into their group and just invites herself into the conversation, as normal. You crouch down near where the human child is currently situated, giggling a bit because somehow, while you were talking to the two Seers, they had wiggled their way into Karkat’s sweater and are currently looking at everyone, smiling quite a bit with their head poked out. This certainly is a treat for you! You don’t think you’ve ever seen Karkat so alright with touching anyone, or having a human climb on him, much less a ‘human grub’! 

Kanaya is chuckling even as you say, “Well, hey there! My name is Jade. I don’t think we’ve met! What’s your name, kiddo?” The kid squirms a bit, and then they have their arm free of the grey sweater that they’re surrounded by. They point to some chalk words on the ground, and then you’re able to not only see their name, but the entire explanation of everything that they had told the others. You have a read, and as you do, the smile drops from your face.

_ /I am Frisk./ _

_ /The man who doesn’t exist normally brought me here. I was resetting./ _

_ /Not sure how to explain. It’s a very long story. Longer than most stories, anyway./ _

_ /I can explain it./ _

_ /The short version is this- Whoever was pulled through the door is now the Fallen Human. They fell into the Underground, where people called ‘monsters’ live./  _

_ /They are not human. They are better than that./ _

You stop yourself before you can read anything else, wanting to take your time examining everything later on. You turn back to Frisk, with the smile on your face back at full force. “Alright, Frisk it is! So, how do you do?” The human child nods, holding a thumbs up sign to show that they’re alright, but for some reason, you can swear that they get closer to Karkat. As if they’re trying to put as much distance between themself and you in the most discreet way possible. 

/ _ They are not human. They are better than that./ _

Just what could they mean by that?


	4. Part 3: A Lot of Feelings and Sadness, ft. Cute Plot Fillers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope that everyone enjoys this! I'm sorry, but I'm none too experienced with writing Roxy and Calliope, so if I could get feedback that'd be great! Also, sorry for the length- chapters won't always be this long, but when they are, there will be an unrelenting sense of dread over what happens next

**_= = = > DAVE: Blatantly disobey Goat Mom and wander the Ruins_ **

While you definitely aren’t sure whether or not you really want to be referring to Toriel as ‘mom’ just yet, you sure as hell can do that. By now, Toriel is out of sight, meaning that you are totally free to do whatever you want. Besides, you can always just come back here if you think that Toriel is coming to make sure that you don’t incur her wrath and get your ass beat.

The fear of being hurt by her is dwindling, though, and that sort of scares the shit out of you.

You don’t like letting your guard down so easily. It’s taken your friends years to even get to a place where you know that they won’t kick your ass for being an asshole, and even then it’s kind of iffy, what with Harley being a basic overpowered magical-girl-omnipotent-furry and with Dirk being… well, best not to continue that train of thought, you think as you enter the next room. The thought train about to go to a shittastic place has derailed, crashing down into the deep dark abyss of “fuck no” that resides deep in the cesspool of your subconscious to never be looked at again so that instead you can focus on more important things. Like what the fuck is that frog thing and why does it have eyes on it’s chest?

You want to go closer to get a better look, but then as quick as fucking anything, your new piece of shit phone rings. You pick it up, and lo and behold it’s the only number that’s in the contacts of this dinosaur dung. “Hello, this is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you?”

“What, no, why would I do that?”

“Well, it’s good that you have not! There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try and solve them yourself…” Right, because you just so happen to be a whiny little pissbaby who can’t even walk four feet without crying for your mommy to come and save you from the metaphorical skeletons in the closet. Shit, those might actually be literal skeletons now, with this underground place already seeming so damn big. Then again, that ‘bigness’ is debatable, because motherfucker, you’re still the size of a non threatening child, with a sword that’s now about over half as long as you are tall. Then again, it’s nice to have someone who’s at least worried about you, and not just in the way that friends are worried.

“Be good, alright?” And with that there’s the dial tone. Thank God- hopefully she wasn’t one of those moms who called every five minutes to make sure that you haven’t disobeyed her and are doing every chore that’s asked of you. Okay, so she really doesn’t seem like that kind of person, but then again, you’ve literally known her for an hour or so, at most. You guess that the calls are at least good for something- they let you find out more about Toriel without having to ask too much on your own.

Now that the call’s done, you go to the frog that’s sitting there. It’s about up to your chest, and what the hell, that is one  _ big frog _ . You could probably ride it across a stream or something, like an extreme water level version of Froggit from hell. The notion, though, strikes you as completely childish, and you push aside the urge to ride on top of it. At first, it ribbits, but then it just sort of whispers to you, without opening it’s mouth, sounding a lot more like a child than a frog. “Excuse me, human. I have some advice for you about battling monsters. If you ACT a certain way, or FIGHT until you almost defeat them… They might not want to battle you anymore. If a monster does not want to fight you, please… show some MERCY, human.”

Well, that’s some helpful advice, you guess. You move on, and on the other side of the room, you think you can see something glowing in a pile of red leaves. As you make your way over though, a monster startles the  _ shit _ out of you by flying in. The monster, which looks like a weird ass owl or bird, seems just as startled as you are though, and then there’s the box forming around you. From your chest comes that soul that you apparently have, and fuck it all, this is a goddamn fight, isn’t it? Like, an actual fight. You still have your sword with you, and this time, Toriel isn’t watching.

If you wanted to, you could just slash this thing to ribbons right then, but you really don’t want to. It’s not that you’re afraid of what Toriel would do if she found out you did this- it’s more that some dialogue box just appears, with the words,  _ Whimsun approached meekly! _ Little flighty dude doesn’t even look like it wants a fight. You can’t just leave a guy like that, not with the possibility of actually killing them there. After all, that Flowey asshole seemed really fucking petrified of your LOVE, whatever that was, so all you can guess is that means you’re hella strong.

So instead you press ACT, and with the options there, you choose to console the monster, not really wanting to hurt something that looks so nervous already. “Hey man, it’s all c-” You don’t even finish your sentence when the guy bursts into tears and runs away. The box dissolves, and hey, you guess that’s that. You sort of won the battle, without doing anything too drastic. You can only hope that all battles here will be this easy. At the very least, you can see whatever shiny thing was in the leaves. You get over there, and the first thing you have is this weird as hell shift in perspective, where you’re just realizing that hey, crunching around in these leaves is kind of really fucking neat. You can stomp around in this pile of dead shit. Hell yeah.  _ Playfully crinkling through the leaves fills you with DETERMINATION _ .

Wow, what the fuck was that.

After that little thought about determination, the urge that you’ve been giving into, the one that has you now awkwardly standing there with a foot raised in the air above a particularly crunchy part of the leaf pile and poised to stomp the fuck out of it, sort of fades, and you are  _ so glad _ that no one’s actually here to see that. You can fucking hear Rose’s psychoanalytical bullshit now- something about how being in the body of a child is likely sort of fucking with your brain, inspiring more childish views and urges and leaving you having little regressions in behavior despite being technically sixteen fucking years old. You set your foot down gently, walking out of the leaf pile and deciding to head north. 

It’s a dead end room, but it’s a room with a bowl of candy right in the middle of it. Fucking score. You go to the bowl on the pedestal, making out the words, “Take one.” on it. Hell yeah, you can definitely use some shit to get your energy up if it gets down low. You take one, and that little voice in your head is back, saying,  _ It has a distinct non-licorice flavor _ . So this weird ass voice inside your head has very strong opinions on licorice. What a fucking nerd. 

You’re about to leave when you pause, thinking that maybe a few more couldn’t hurt. Besides, you tended to get hungry hella easily, so having something to stave that off should be good. You turn back to the candy bowl and take another candy. This time, the childish voice in your head is way more of a judgemental asshole.  _ You took more candy. How disgusting. _ You still want to stock up though, so you take another one, and goddamn this voice can’t find a way to shut the fuck up.  _ You feel like the scum of the earth… _ and you sort of do, but there’s no way in fuck that you’re about to make that known. You try to take as much candy as you can shove into your little pockets, but you take it too fast, so the candy bowl falls all over the floor. Candy skitters across it, and you’re left there kind of staring at it.

_ Look what you did. _ says the voice.

And so you say out loud, “Fuck off.”

**_= = = > FRISK: Interact with those around you for some obvious filler for the plot_ **

You… really don’t understand what that means? But you can certainly try to interact with others there more, especially the humans, even if they kind of make you wary.

You don’t really mind the humans around you, of course. In fact, they all seem to be very nice! The one who calls herself Jade is very optimistic, which you like a lot. In fact, you even kind of try to wiggle your way out of Karkat’s sweater to sit more comfortably in his lap, as well as reach the chalk. You can’t keep cowering forever, if you’re to make friends and ‘interact’ for this ‘filler plot’. You think that if all the humans are like this, though, you can definitely get used to them.

Besides, Karkat said that all the other trolls are way stronger than the humans, so if anything went wrong they could certainly help you. Kanaya said that she has a chainsaw, and that Terezi and Vriska fight even better together than apart. Sure, you don’t want to hurt anyone here, but humans are so different from monsters. They don’t work in bullet patterns, and their attacks may not be directly on your soul, but the indirect way they hurt you with words and fists is even worse. You don’t think that most of the humans here would hurt you, but still, there is one who’s still there that you’re a little afraid of. The one with the pointy sunglasses and silly shorts. You shift your eyes towards him, looking for a moment.

He… hasn’t really given any emotion. At all. You know humans like that, and they’re never good.

You’re trying not to judge though, and you shift your uneasy glance from Dirk to the human with red slippers in front of you. You think that you’ve seen that before, ruby red slippers and striped stockings, maybe from an old movie. You lean forward and write down, / _ Where did you get your slippers? Are they from a wicked witch?/ _ and the girl in front of you grins widely, laughing a bit. You smile back, because that’s better. It puts you a little more at ease. 

“Hehe, no, not at all!” Jade says, a twinkle in her eye. “I’m actually a witch myself, so when I… came back from a certain place, I got this neato outfit, which includes the shoes!” You have a feeling that Jade isn’t quite telling you the truth when it comes to ‘going someplace’, but you decide not to push for now. You barely know her, so it wouldn’t be your place to say anything. “But that’s not the half of it, Frisk, because I got something else along with the outfit! It’s underneath my hood, in fact!” You’re curious, and you mime taking off a hood. You don’t want to use up too much writing space on the ground, and you also don’t want to go over and take the hood off yourself, so it’s the best you can do.

Jade nods, understanding, and then she takes off her hood. You gasp with what you see, an audible little sound that causes the troll that you’re sitting on to jump a bit. No one seems to have expected you to be able to make noise. You can’t help it though! Right on her head, moving in her hair, is a pair of fluffy white dog ears! It’s no secret- you love dogs. You especially love  _ petting _ dogs. Now is no different, as you crawl off of Karkat’s lap, quickly moving to Jade’s and reaching up to touch the ears. Jade laughs, and you can feel more pairs of eyes on you as you giggle to yourself.

When you get chalk, you write beside where you’re sitting on her,  _ /They’re very soft. They remind me of the Royal Guard in Snowdin. And Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. Can you control people’s minds by kissing them? _ / Jade looks at where you point, and so does one of the grey girls there, the one with the extra pupils in her left eye. She seems to have been attracted by the sound of your laughter, meaning that she must have been a very sweet person! The troll snorts though, loud as she crouches down beside you.

“Kid, this human here can’t do shit with mind control. That’s all me.” You think your eyes are widening a lot, because honestly, you’re already learning a lot about all of these people! “I could definitely  _ demonstrate _ , even!!!!!!!! How would you like that, ya little punk?” You are suddenly reminded of another blue person who calls you punk, and you hold your hand out in the stop motion, before crawling off Jade’s lap and settling down on the ground to write more clearly. 

/ _ You remind me of someone. Can you cook? For a lot of people?/ _ You ask, and Jade looks bemused as she reads over it. Karkat’s gotten up, and he’s reading too, and now you can’t see the emotionless human who was looking at you. You’re sort of glad of that. The troll girl looks caught off guard, like she really wasn’t expecting that question, and says, “Yeah???????? I guess???????? Why  _ would _ I though?” You lean back a bit, thinking. The resemblance of the girl in front of you is  _ really _ bothering you, so the best thing you can do is communicate that to them. Then, you get up, looking around before you spot Roxy and the Mayor. You go over and point to the blue and red chalk, which Roxy gives you, though she also follows after with some curiosity.

/ _ What’s your name?/ _ You ask the troll girl, pointing to her before pointing to your question. She answers with “Vriska. Why?” You sit on the ground and in blue chalk, write the troll girl’s name with a small doodle of her face underneath it. Then, beside it, you write the name “Undyne”, before drawing her face, eyepatch and fins and all. Then you point at Undyne’s hastily made visage. “What the hell is that supposed to mean???????? Who the fuck is this Undyne character?” You write under Undyne’s image “Captain of the Royal Guard”, and then under both, / _ The heroine that never gives up./ _ That’s what Chara had described her as, and they were right.

You miss them. Even if they were kind of rude, they were also really interesting and cool.

“I think,” Roxy says, pink eyes popping open a bit more in realization, “that they’re saying that there’s someone a lot like you back where they were from, spider gal! Say, Frisk, do you have any other people that you have back home that you want to tell us about?” And you nod, because she gets it! You definitely want to tell them about all of your friends from the Underground, especially since they would all be making friends with the boy who was supposedly pulled down there in your place. “So, Dave will be meeting these people?” You nod, and she’s about to open her mouth when the human in orange comes.

“Perhaps we can have them record everything down in a book when we get to our temporary home.” She’s saying, and you don’t think she’s introduced herself yet. She’s been talking an awful lot with the girl with red sunglasses. “We’ve decided that perhaps the best course of action would be for us all to take refuge on the golden battleship that Jade has so helpfully kept in her pocket. We were originally thinking of perhaps going to a planet, but nearly all of the ones that Jade has pose some kind of danger to the child we now have, and the Land of Wind and Shade has been gone for a few years now.” You don’t know what they’re talking about, but in any case, you let them talk. You… sort of doubt that anyone could live in a ship that’s kept in someone’s pocket, but that could be code. Secret code! Like what spies use.

You watch as Jade takes a small golden ship from her pocket, and Roxy keeps near you, holding an arm in front of you. “Best to stand back, sweetheart- wouldn’t want you to accidentally get crushed!” 

You suddenly understand exactly what they meant, how they could all fit inside that little thing, when Jade’s hands glow a bright green and the ship begins to get bigger. You thought that you understood some things about the place that you were in- the humans were humans, the trolls could be a kind of monster and might be able to do some magic, and the little guy called the Mayor was undisputedly the best leader a democracy could have. Humans were never able to do this, to use magic like this. Wherever you are, things are different.

But in a way, it’s sort of relieving, because you can clutch onto the dark blue hem of Roxy’s shirt without fear then. Maybe, maybe these humans were different, if they were able to use such powerful magic? Maybe they weren’t even human at all.

It isn’t normal to be comforted by the thought of being with people who aren’t human, but you were never quite a normal child.

As Roxy hoists you up so that you can see better, though, you can’t help but think about the family you still have in the Underground, the monsters that are still there. They may not remember you, but you remember them right now, so you wonder if they’re doing alright. You seriously hope so. You would hate for any one of them to be laying on the ground and feeling like garbage or anything like that.

**_= = = > NAPSTABLOOK: Lay on the ground and feel like garbage _ **

Your name is NAPSTABLOOK, and this, of course, is normal routine for you. However, today you decided to spice things up by laying down and feeling like garbage in your usual spot in the Ruins, where you usually go to get some peace and quiet.

Of course, everything at home is pretty quiet, even if it isn’t exactly peaceful, what with you being the last ghost tending to the Blook family farm. You don’t really get any customers anymore, so your days consist mostly of watching Mettaton be the big star that he always wanted to be and tending to the snails, who of course are just as quiet as the inside of your house. Sometimes, you can hear some fire crackling where your neighbor was, but you normally just close the blinds against it. Maybe Undyne should watch your cousin’s cooking show- at least then it would minimize cooking disasters.

Right now, you’re laying down in a pile of leaves, looking up at the ceiling. Usually when you’re prone like this, time passes by you in weird ways, so you could have been laying there for a few minutes or a few days. It seems to be a few hours this time, because you can hear footsteps coming down the hall, and they aren’t the footsteps of the woman who normally passes through here. They’re a lot lighter.

So of course, you pretend to go to sleep, closing your eyes and trying to get the tears out of them while you say, out loud, repeatedly, “Z….” You feel something nudge you, or rather, feel a foot phase right through you, and then you hear a child cursing. Someone should probably dial back the adult language, especially if they don’t want to get in trouble with anyone… “Are they gone yet…. Zzzzzzz….”

“Hey, Casper, d’you mind getting up? I’m trying to get by here, and goat mom ain’t gonna be back for a while. You’re not even asleep you damn marshmallow.” You open your eyes, because you might as well, since he knows, floating up to an upright position. A FIGHT starts. Oh dear… This little boy seems to have a pretty high LOVE. Higher than you’ve ever seen a LOVE be, and you think that maybe you should be worried, but honestly, you’re still sort of incorporeal, so you can always just leave and warn others that a boy who wants to hurt people is here.

Their soul is red, and you think that you might have seen that before…. You don’t remember where though…

The guy doesn’t seem too intent on hurting you though, because instead, he’s acting. He gives a smirk, one that seems almost a bit out of place on his childish little face, and says, “Hey man, I’m no organ donor, but I’d be happy to give you my heart.” The pickup line is adorable, and completely wasted on you, in your opinion. 

He’s so young (you can tell by the striped shirt), and he has his whole life ahead of him. He can do so much better than you. “I would just weigh you down…” You would, honestly. Any hopes or dreams that he has, he should just go do them, because if he stayed with you he would just be miserable and hate things that he has. You don’t want to make the mistake of shackling someone down again. Your tears are welling up, but by this point you can’t really stop them, and you’re crying like always. He dodges them skillfully though, and you’re glad of that. He must really be fast.

It’s his turn, and he’s acting again, saying, “Look, Napstablook, it’s cool. You’re really not a bother.” You smile a bit at that. It’s a sweet gesture, and it cheers you up just a bit. You’d love to keep up the fun and have a little attack for him, but you’re really not feeling up to it right now.

You inform him of this, saying an apologetic little, “Really not feeling up to it right now, sorry…” With the next move, the human yet again tries cheering you up, and though you can’t stop your tears, you’re still a little bit happier, chuckling a little bit. “Heh heh…” When the third cheering comes around, you decide that you want to be able to show him something. “Here. Let me try…” The tears, instead of going towards the human, move up to your head, where they form a hat.

You can actually make the hat in any style that you want it, but today you think that a stovepipe hat would be best. “I call this ‘dapper blook’... Do you like it…?”

“Holy fuck.” comes out of the human’s mouth, and he looks completely surprised. You hope that this doesn’t scare him or something, but then he says, “That is the coolest shit I have ever seen. That’s literally- Napstablook, bro, that is the  _ shit _ . You’re pretty fucking awesome.”

“Oh gee…” The battle ends, since you guess that this means that he’s sparing you and you’re sparing him. You smile a bit, even as you say, “I usually come to the Ruins because there’s no one around, and I can lay around and feel like garbage… But today, I met somebody nice…” The human gives this little crooked half smile, as if he isn’t used to doing that. It’s adorable. “Oh. I’m rambling again…. I’ll get out of your way.” 

You fade away, moving invisibly through the Ruins, in a much better mood than before. Of course, then you fall down a hole, leaving you to just repeat the cycle of laying down and looking up at the ceiling. Feeling like garbage yet again. The time slips away from you, and you could have been there an hour or a minute, before something else also falls down the hole. You roll over and look, and there’s the human again, clutching a faded pink ribbon in his hand. “Hey. What do you… have there…?” 

The human boy looks to you, as if startled, before looking down at the ribbon. “Oh, you know, just some shitty old ribbon I found. Really, I don’t know why I’m holding onto it, since it’s a piece of junk and all. Besides, it’s not like I can wear it or anything.” 

“Why not….?” 

“Well, shit, I’m a boy. Or well, I identify as one, that’s my gender or whatever-”

“Well… you know, the cuter you are, the less monsters will want to hurt you…” If you had the capability to do so, you would have shrugged. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a boy liking pink ribbons… My cousin loves those. He wears them all the time… Along with pink boots, and pink things like…. oh no, I can’t quite….. remember…….” The human boy looks at you, looks at the ribbon, and then starts to tie it into his hair. You smile a bit, reassuringly. You know what it’s like to need a lot of that. “See….? Cuter already.”

“Well, I was always cute.” The human smirks, and then asks, “But anyway, why are you down here? Back to your scheduled thing of laying around and feeling like garbage?”

“Sort of… I fell down a hole, and now I can’t get up. Go on without me...” As you say that though, you pause, because you remember something. “Wait… ghosts can fly, can’t they…? Oh well, guess I forgot… I’ll see you around…” And with that, you decide to head on home. You’ve done your scheduled laying around today, and now it’s time to tend to the snails. 

You sure hope that human will be alright…

**_= = = > ROXY: Get the deets on the situation at hand._ **

Your name is ROXY LALONDE, and honestly, there are way too many situations at hand right now! So much so that it feels like you’re juggling all of these situations like they’re hot potatoes.

Not that you aren’t adept in dealing with multiple cases at once- you’ve had more than your fair share of practice doing that while trying to keep your three dearest friends in the whole wide world mostly sane, multitasking getting through the game while also comforting Jane through her lonely birthday and keeping yourself from hitting bonehead Jake and emotionally repressed Dirk. You can multitask certain situations and make a good impression, but this is definitely a problem for the books. 

For one thing, the Door to your universe won’t fucking hold still. The resident Time player that might have been able to freeze it was pulled through some hours ago by some liquidy skeleton thing, and then this little bundle of joy that you’re currently holding in your arms was shoved out in his place. You can’t get to your universe, you don’t know what exactly is happening with Dave right now, and now you suddenly have a kid to worry about.

It’s all been sort of jarring, but at the same time, it’s alright! Especially since the cutie in your arms seems to have had a turnaround when it comes to you humans, because prior to seeing Jade do her space magic, they seemed downright wary of you. Especially of Dirk; god knows you love the asshole, but you still had to try and tell him on multiple occasions to leave the poor kid alone, sheesh, and stop staring at them. He’s working through some shit of his own, you’re sure, but it still doesn’t excuse how freaked out his continuous staring left the poor thing. You’ll have to really talk to him about all of that later.

Later, because now you’re all floating up to the Yellow Yard, as Jade has called it. You hold onto Frisk so that they don’t fall, but they seem to be having a blast, grinning wide and looking down at the ground, pointing to it with excited gestures. “Yep, I know! Neat thing that we can do here, right? Plus, you’re going to meet the absolutely, most adorable person in the whole of paradox space!” Frisk looks at you eyebrows furrowing in confusion, and you laugh a bit. “You’ll see!”

You see Rose floating away with Kanaya, with the both of them holding onto each other like the gay, in love nerds that they are. Vriska has Terezi hanging off of her neck and has Karkat in her grip, which only causes the troll to be yelling and screaming as the two Scourge Sisters just laugh at him. John is nice enough to carry the Mayor and his chalk up, and it seems that Dirk, Jane and Jake are staying behind to make sure that they can all carry the clown troll’s fridge prison. Honestly, Janey could probably just lift it herself. The girl is buff as hell in addition to that cute chub, and she probably could. After all, she’s flipped over a heavy ass table with one hand before.

You land on the deck of the ship and whistle, setting Frisk down and looking to Jade. “Dang, Captain Harley, this is one fine vessel you got here! It really gets the crew’s engines roaring, if you know what I mean. I always did like a gal who could pilot a thing like this. Even better if they’re in uniform...” You wink, and Jade hits your arm, laughing.

“Roxy, no! There’s a kid here! Save that for when they’re asleep!”

“Alright, alright. Now, where is Calliope?” Frisk tugs on the hem of your shirt, and you look down at them. They look up at you with that confused expression, and you grin. “Just wait a second. We just need to find her. Come on Frisk, let’s go look for her!” Frisk seems to like that idea, because they’ve begun marching over to where Kanaya and Rose are landing, where Terezi is making her way over to as well. You hurry after them, but then you stop, because luckily it seems that your favorite little cherub of all time is already making her way over!

You lean down and turn Frisk around, pointing to Calliope, and Frisk’s eyes widen. You don’t expect them to, but soon enough, they’re running over to Calliope, grinning quite a bit. You don’t think you’ve ever seen a green skull look more startled in your life, and you’re able to go over and introduce them. “Alright Frisk, this here is Calliope! Isn’t she adorable?” Frisk nods, and grins up at the cherub. In just a few moments, though, Frisk points over to the Mayor with his chalk, and you nod. They run off, and then Calliope takes this chance to look over to the direction of the human child, looking at them wonderingly.

“They’re a small human.” She says, bringing a clawed hand to her mouth, “They absolutely look like a small human! But… what’s happened? Why is this new, small human here?” All good questions, in your opinion, and now you get to describe this situation to the best of your ability. At the very least it’ll help you work through it all. 

“Okay, so the Door… well, it keeps  _ moving _ . It isn’t staying still now. When we were about to go through, Dave was pulled through by something, and then little Frisk- the human child over there looking for chalk- was left.” It’s an easy enough explanation, and you bite your lip a bit, trying to find the best way to explain it all. We can’t get into our universe now, and Dave is stuck inside of it, though we don’t really know why this is even happening.”

“Dave is gone…” Calliope’s mouth opened just a bit, “Oh, dear, that isn’t good at all! Have the Seers been looking into it all?” 

“Yeah, they seem to have been! They’ve been talking a lot about this stuff. I guess the best thing that we can do is just go over and talk to them.” Especially now, since Rose and Terezi seemed to be together again and discussing the very important situation at hand. You and Calliope look at each other, and it’s a good thing that you’re basically in sync on this, because you go over to the Seers, hand in hand. “Hey, Rosie! Got any juicy details about the world that we’re supposed to be in? Or maybe, any theories on why this is happening?”

Rose looks a bit surprised to see you, but she speaks nonetheless. “I’m afraid not. We’ve already told Jade- our Sight seems to be useless in this situation. All we can do is speculate, based on the clues that we’ve been left with so far.”

“Yeah, but these clues are fucking scarce as shit!” Terezi growls, and you think that she might be near the point of tearing her hair out. “All we know is that Frisk was caught up in some weird time shit, even weirder than the time shit that we’ve been through, and that something doesn’t want us in our new universe. The human grub says that something that doesn’t even exist brought them here. We can’t go through the Door, we can’t See into it- we’re stuck out here! Someone who’s apparently able to bend the rules of space itself is working for the sole cause of pissing us off, apparently. And then of course, we know that Dave was taken for some reason. We just can’t figure out what!”

Calliope seems thoughtful all throughout this, and then she speaks up, looking to the Seers. “If it’s someone who can bend the rules of Space itself, they must have a good knowledge of all the aspects… Someone who, maybe, is able to understand and go into the Void.” That catches their attention, and Rose looks to Calliope, silently willing her to speak. “I may share a title and aspect with her, but I don’t have this knowledge. She does. The alternate me.” 

The Seers pause, and so do you. You guess that this definitely counts as a lead, something that can be investigated. All you would really need to do is find where Alt-Calliope went. She could be anywhere, sure, but this was at least a start in what could very well be a wild goose chase. You’re taken from your thoughts when you feel a small hand tug on your shirt, and you look down. There stands the little human child, yawning and rubbing one eye with the hand that isn’t full of chalk dust. You smile apologetically, bending down to pick them up. “Sorry everyone, but it seems that Frisky here tuckered themselves all out! How’s about I make sure they get shut eye, then go searching in the bubbles for her? It’ll make some shi- stuff, easier.” Nice one Roxy, you just saved the child from having to hurt their tiny ears on offensive language. You would be a great mom.

They nod, and Rose looks at you strangely for a bit, even as you walk away, asking Jade where an extra room in the ship is. By the time you make your way down to one (with a nest of blankets and feathers in it? has this even been cleaned?) you’re starting to feel a little worn out yourself. Time to begin the search, you think, even as you clear away the feathers and use the blankets to cover Frisk up for the night.

You can only hope that this ends well.

**_= = = > DAVE: Realize this may not end well._ **

“Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would!”

You have just been wandering around the Ruins, solving puzzles and fighting (or rather, sparing) some monsters along the way. You’ve gotten other items, helped out a spider bake sale, and even fought with a ghost who later on told you you looked cute with the pink ribbon currently tied into your hair. You were supposed to rush back to the spot where Toriel left you, but now it’s too late, because you can hear her up ahead, talking to herself.

Your name is Dave Strider, and you might just be screwed.

You guess that it was going to happen eventually. You’re about to see what Toriel’s reaction is to the fat that you’ve blatantly disobeyed her and come to this place, where there’s a dead tree with red leaves all around it. You know that with Bro, this shit wouldn’t have flown. You would have gotten your ass beat, like when you were younger and refused to talk, trying to communicate in sign language. The punishment then had been even more cruel, but you learned not to sign at all, since you had a working pair of vocal chords and better use them.

She’s coming, and you’re just frozen in place, watching, waiting, tense as hell. She takes out her phone, and when she hears yours ring, she looks over at you with a shocked look. She didn’t expect you to be here. Then, she’s rushing over, and you expect something, expect the other shoe to drop, expect the backhand that’s sure to come. Instead, she just bends down a little, asking in that kind voice, “How did you  _ get  _ here, my child?”

“Walked.” Is your terse reply, and she smiles to you so reassuringly that it actually eases the knot in your stomach. So you were wrong after all. This giant goat woman has nothing but the best intentions for you. You’re so glad.

“Are you hurt?” She looks you over, takes your arms in her hands and makes sure you aren’t bruised. You aren’t, not too badly, though now you have a bandage on your knee and a scratch on your cheek. “There, there, I will heal you.” The fire she uses to help you doesn’t burn in the least, and that’s honestly cool as shit. It’s like watching a welder sew your skin shut, just without all the blood to make you nauseous or the feeling of string going through your skin. You always fucking hated that feeling- it hurt, and it was uncomfortable. At the very least, it taught you how to deal with stitching yourself up.

You’re torn from your thoughts when she says, “I should not have left you alone for so long. It was irresponsible to try to surprise you like this…” She seems to blush a bit, and you wonder how the hell you can see it through her fur. It reminds you of all the times you’ve wondered how Kanaya’s jade blushing can be seen over her Twilight-esque glowing skin. Even then, Toriel is smiling. “Err… Well, I suppose I cannot hide it any longer. Come, small one!” She goes on ahead, and then you see it.

You stand outside of it for a moment, just looking. There’s a little house here, one that looks cute and tiny. You’ve never seen a house like this- in the dreambubbles, all of your friends’ houses were much, much bigger, with Rose and Jade living in goddamn mansions and John living in a really big house. Seeing such a cozy house here in the Ruins, and thinking about how it might be inside….  _ Well, it fills you with determination. _

You go inside the house, and immediately you’re assaulted by the homey atmosphere. It feels really, really warm, and the front hall is really nicely done. Not to mention, you can smell something sweet coming from somewhere. Toriel stands in front of you, grinning from ear to ear. “Do you smell that?”

“Well, it’s pretty hard  _ not _ to.” It’s true- the smell is basically everywhere, and it smells damn good, and you’re really not used to this. You think that there’s the sound of someone’s voice, coming from behind you, belatedly trying to explain shit, but you ignore it completely. 

“Surprise! It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie! I thought we might celebrate your arrival.” You remember, now. While you were wandering, Toriel called you and asked whether you prefered butterscotch or cinnamon. You told her that you liked both equally, and that you liked apples even more. She remembered that, it seems, and baked you something. You’re honestly pretty fucking overwhelmed. This kind of maternal affection, the way she says that she wants to celebrate your coming, as if you’re someone important, the way that she looks at you so kindly and doesn’t want to hurt you at all, it makes something in your chest hurt. Goddamn, you had hoped that your heart had shriveled up and died somewhere along the line, made emotion difficult. It didn’t. 

You think you might cry.

You don’t though, saying instead, “Well, I’m definitely worth celebrating, that’s for sure.” The quip falls flat, and it’s so weak, but she chuckles anyway.

“I want you to have a nice time living here, Dave. So… I will hold off on snail pie for tonight.” She winks at you, and you laugh a bit, because you can’t stop yourself. You’re in heaven, you think, and now you can’t even keep the cool kid persona that you’ve been hanging onto. Great. “Here, I have another surprise for you.” She goes down the hall to your right, and you follow after, because you’re at ease for once. You’re fine with staying right by Toriel. The thought isn’t scary anymore.

“This is it…” She takes a hold of your hand, and leads you in front of a closed door. “It’s a room of your own! I hope you like it.” She raises a hand to your hair and pets it, and you let her, because fuck, you think your chest is about to burst. The Grinch may have had his heart grow three sizes, but yours isn’t stopping there. It’s growing so big that it might just burst out of your chest, and then you’ll make Toriel cry with all the guts and gore. Even so, you can’t understand.

You’ve barely known each other for a few hours, and she’s the mother you’ve always wanted.

Why is she being so nice to you?

She pulls away, soon enough, head turned towards the kitchen. “Is something burning…? Um, make yourself at home!” And with that, she runs off to the kitchen to make sure nothing’s on fire. You watch Toriel rush away before you go inside the room, looking around. It really is a nice room, with a chest full of toys and stuffed animals on the bed. There’s no computer or wires, but you think that’s okay. It’s really homey, and you like that.

You pull your shades up and wipe at your eyes, shaking your head to clear it. You came here, sure, and as much as it makes you feel great that you have someone who really, really loves you like a mom is supposed to love their son, you know that there’s still a lot of unfinished business. You can’t stay here forever, you know that. You have friends, out there. Your friends still haven’t gotten into your universe, and you can’t just leave them hanging. You’ve been through hell and back with them, so you can’t just leave them like that. And even if they did come through, they might not have come here. They might be on the surface.

You groan, sitting on the edge of the bed. You want to just rest for a bit, forget about your troubles for a goddamn second. Is that too much to ask, before you charge into a new adventure? One that you don’t even really want to have? You sit up straighter, though, because now you can clearly see the figure of another human in the room, some little asshole with the rosiest fucking cheeks you have ever seen on a person. Shit, those things look painted, like they belong at the “It’s a Small World” ride at Disney but were rejected. They have their arms crossed over their chest, and they’re glaring at you. You push aside the useless emotions trying to well up in your chest after all that shit with Toriel, glad for a distraction So of course you ask, “Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m Chara, or as you should know me, the only darn person here who knows what’s going on!” They growl out their words, glaring at you with red eyes. Or are they brown? You can’t tell with the shades, and you don’t want to find out, just in case their eyes are normal and yours are still freakish as shit. 

“Dude, what the hell? Are you the little shit who’s been following me around?” Your face falls into the poker face that it’s designed to do, and you cross your own arms, mirroring them. Two could play at this petulant game, asshole.

“Well I sort of  _ have _ to follow you around! You were the one who fell down here instead of Frisk! Where the hecky are they anyway?” 

“I have no fucking clue, and did you really just say ‘hecky’? What are you, ten?”

“I’m  _ eleven _ , thank you very much! Just because I don’t like to have a potty mouth doesn’t mean I’m some little kid!”

“Wow, eleven entire years old, I’d be impressed if I was actually eight. I’m not. I’m sixteen.”

They just scowl at you, shaking their head. “Excuse me? What the frick is wrong with you?? You don’t make any friggin’ sense! You stomp around in the leaves that you find and then, on the same breath, go strutting around like you’re some big hotshot! You took all the candy out that bowl, you absolute  _ slime _ .” 

“I don’t have the willpower to deal with you right now. I’m going to sleep.” You tell them, turn around, and lay on the bed without getting under the sheets. Before laying down, you honestly weren’t all that tired, but this bed really is comfortable. It’s the most comfortable thing you’ve laid on, and it’s still warm as shit, so pretty soon you’re getting drowsy. The little ghostly asshole doesn’t want you to be ignoring them, so they just keep on raging, stomping their foot and doing some other things in the background that you vaguely register.

You can’t help it. After everything, you start to drift off. You wonder what happens now, since you can’t dream on Derse and there aren’t any dreambubbles here that you know of. That thought is fleeting though, because soon enough, you are out cold.

You don’t realize this Chara person finally stopping when they realize you really are asleep, and you don’t realize that they start pulling the comforter over you.

All you know is, you fall into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked this chapter! Because I can assure you, next time, this won't be quite so cheery ;) Let's just say, I have a plan for Frisk involving a dreambubble with a very empty Snowdin and a scene that's sure to break the heart of everyone who loves seeing Dave have Toriel be his maternal figure
> 
> Have a nice night!


	5. Part 4: The First True Battle, and a Glimpse Into Another Time

**_= = = > DAVE: Wake up_ **

When you finally open your eyes, you feel really, really groggy. Vaguely disoriented too. The room is a lot dimmer, and when you sit up, the comforter of the bed falls off of your shoulders. You look around, and for a second you really don’t understand. You thought that you would have been in the dreambubbles, but here you are, waking up here. Waking up in the room that Toriel gave to you.

Your name is Dave Strider, and with the sleep being rubbed from your eyes, you can think a little more clearly.

You guess that Toriel must have tucked you in, whenever she might have come into the room and checked up on you. The thought is actually sort of heartwarming, and you bundle the blankets around you for a moment before letting them fall back on the bed. You get out of bed, figuring that now would be a good time to go out and hang around the monster a little bit, in whatever it was that she wanted to do. It’s about damn time that you think about what you’re about to do and how you’re going to go about doing it.

What you want to do, the shit that you want to eventually do, is find the exit of this place and leave. You sort of don’t want to, sure, but you’re going to have to move on eventually, you think. You have to push on ahead and see what’s next, where our friends are in this situation, and how the hell you can get back to your proper age. As fun as it would be to stay a kid forever, that has to change sometime, and besides, you think you might just go fucking bonkers if you had to stay a goddamn child for so long. It would get tiring after a while, you’re sure, the constant coddling and being thought of as a helpless little kid who can’t get shit done. 

With that you stand up a bit straighter, nearly missing the sight of something on the floor in the dim light of the room. Shit’s dark in here, meaning that it’s a little hard to see, and you don’t have your shades on your face. You guess that bit is what saved you from walking straight into a wall as soon as you start onwards, and let you see the piece of pie on the floor that you nearly step on. You bend down and pick the plate with the slice up, and shit, it smells good, better than anything you’ve had in your life. Kanaya might have been a fantastic goddamn cook, but that was only limited to those Alternian dishes that you sometimes couldn’t stomach, and you’ve never had a fresh, honest to God home baked pie. You decide to save that for a little bit later though, and you find that your pockets work much like a sylladex. You can put the pie in there with no mess. Thank God for that.

You search around the darkened room for a bit, because it seems that little shit of a child spirit has gone off to do ghost things somewhere else around here and won’t help. Either that, or they hid from you deliberately and are being an asshole because you called them ten even though they’re apparently eleven. One entire fucking year older than what you guessed. Well, excuse that little asshole, because time is an illusion of wibbly wobbly nonsense anyway and they didn’t need to get so pissy about what age they’re going to be staying at for the rest of eternity. 

Eventually, you do find your shades (no thanks to Casper the Angry Ghost) on the chest of drawers by the wardrobe, and with your eyes suitably ready for the world, you make your way out into the significantly brighter hallway. It’s pretty roomy, and there are a lot of plants around in pots, really well taken care of. You wonder what exactly Toriel does with her time, if she has a job or something else. Do they have a monetary system of exchange here? Well, obviously they do, since you have a shit ton of gold from all those fights you were in, but is there a free market? Trade with other places? Are monsters forced to work to the point of hating their own bleak existences? Is there Monster Capitalism? Because if there is, you’ll have no choice but to be extremely disappointed.

You head down the hall, the part that visibly ends in a dead end, and go into a room. It’s all blue, calming, with a few more plants an entire large bookshelf filled to the brim with books. It’s another bedroom, and since you figure that you haven’t seen anyone else around here, this could only be Toriel’s room. You hesitate, because shit, you’ve never actually  _ been _ in a guardian’s bedroom before. Bro slept out in the living room, more often than not, and yours was the only bedroom. You just know, though, that if Bro had his own room and you touched his shit, you’d have your ass beat. You know that Toriel wouldn’t do that, but the thought is still enough to make you hesitate before going into the room and rooting around Toriel’s shit. She has an opened diary on the desk, and you can’t help but take a peek. 

_ Why did the skeleton want a friend? Because she was feeling BONELY! _

The page is just… filled, to the brim, with awful puns about goats and skeletons. It honestly reminds you of Aradia, who would sometimes just make death puns and was sort of a goat. Goats and rams were close enough, right? You never really paid attention to those things. Mammals weren’t your forte- birds, though, that was your shit. By the desk where the diary lay, now untouched because you will not allow your hands anywhere near such awful punnery, no matter how pure the writer of them is, is a plain old bucket. Of snails. So she wasn’t kidding about snail pie....

But hey, if the French could eat snails out of their shells, then you could handle some pie, right? Besides, after living on the meteor, living off of questionable quality alchemized goods and troll shit like grubs and intestines from some sort of few millimeter high white penguins (you didn’t even know how to react to that, what the fuck, why the fuck did it look like spaghetti), you could probably stomach it. How bad could it be?

You’re getting ahead of yourself though. You aren’t going to stay long enough to be able to have snail pie. You still have to continue exploring this place and find out what the fuck is the deal with the situation out there, with your friends. You don’t like to admit to shit like feelings, and maybe it’s the fact that right now you’re tiny and a child, or maybe you just subconsciously want to give Lalonde a fucking field day with your psyche, but you’re pretty fucking worried about them. Did they have to fight that skeleton thing? When they went through the Door, did they even get to a safe place? Was this world really a hellhole, one final ‘fuck you’ from the game on top of the years of PTSD and trauma? You don’t have a clue, and you’re stranded with no powers to help you figure it out.

You haven’t been here long enough to come to the point of missing your friends just yet, but you’re definitely getting there. You just hope that shit out there is alright, and that everyone else made it in safely, even if you didn’t. Well, even if you didn’t  _ quite _ make it in safely. At the very least, you have Toriel here, someone who protects you for the most part during this first leg of your journey. You’re sort of really fucking thankful to her.

You decide to go talk to her after you’re done exploring, but there isn’t much more to explore. Inside a drawer are flower seeds and some broken crayons (which was weird, but alright), and a door with a sign saying “room under renovations” stuck on it. The only worthwhile thing you find is the large mirror mounted on the wall. For the first time since you’ve come down here, you’re able to clearly see just what the hell has happened to you, and the first thing you think is that you surely couldn’t have been this skinny the last time you were eight, but here you are, sweater looking way too big and, when a sleeve is rolled back, arms as thin as sticks.

You don’t like seeing that. It just reminds you of the fact that you didn’t learn how to scavenge your own food and hide your shit until you were about ten, and how malnourished you were. That shit was hard, and you’re pretty sure it stunted your growth too, which sucked because you could only see your head and part of your neck in the mirror. Even then though, with the softer features and pudgier cheeks and pink ribbon in your hair, you have to nod in approval. You’re adorable as fuck. There is no disputing that.

You turn away, curiosity now mostly satisfied, and you go to see Toriel. You see the large staircase leading down someplace, but figure it probably irrelevant. Probably just a basement or something like that.

You head to the next room, and then you see Toriel, sitting in a large reading chair and reading with a fire crackling in the background. Everything seems so fucking domestic and peaceful that, for a moment, you’re taken aback. Then you decide to focus on another object in the room to clear that all away, namely, her bookshelf. She really must love books, because there’s a shit ton of them here too. The only place you’ve seen this many books was in Karkat and Rose’s shared collection of romance trash and informational shit. It was like a hodge podge of bullshit, and you remember that back on the meteor you had thought about picking one up to read seriously, but then it just became time to criticize the shitty writing and annotate fucking everything about it.

You go over to Toriel, and she bookmarks the page she is on, smiling at you warmly. “Ah, up already, I see! Here, my child; come sit.” There’s no room on the chair though, and you’re about to tell her that when she pats her lap, looking at you way too expectantly. Oh. Oh, okay, you guess you can roll with this, even if your ears are getting a little bit red. Your poker face is in place though, so maybe she won’t notice.

As you crawl up into her lap and sort of lean on her, you talk. “Well, yeah. I gotta get up sometime, you know? Can’t just lay in bed all day like a pile of lazy bones and flesh holding it all together like the saddest sack of rotting potatoes in the world.” She bears through the metaphor with an amused chuckle, and she’s literally radiating warmth, and softness, and you might have fallen asleep again if you hadn’t just woken up. You can’t really be this thirsty for attention, can you? Jesus, you need to get a grip on yourself.

She smiles sheepishly, saying, “Um, I want you to know glad I am to have someone here.” And the way she tells you that makes one corner of your mouth twitch up. You try to pass it off in your mind as a smirk, but it’s way too fucking weak to be that. The patented Strider poker face was breaking down in the face of this sincere affection, and you sort of fucking hate that, but at the same time, it isn’t so bad. “There are so many old books I want to share… I want to show you my favorite bug hunting spot. I’ve also prepared a curriculum for your education.” Whoa whoa whoa, hold the fucking phone there.

She did what. Okay, that right there is enough for you to be sort of weirded out. Why would she even need to do that? That seems a little bit extreme. “Uh, why the he-  _ hecky _ would you do that?” Shit, that ghost kid rubbed off on you in some way, because here you are, saying hecky even though you’re a sixteen year old stuck in an eight year old body. You don’t even have time to appreciate the irony of that because this seems a bit too important.

“This may come as a surprise to you…. But, I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.” Okay, so her wanting to be a teacher made some sense then. If she prepared a curriculum, then maybe she was just doing it to get some practice? Because she knows that you can’t stay here, right? “... Actually that may not be surprising to you… still…. I am very glad to have you living here, my child.”

Then, you want to hit yourself upside the head. Of course she wouldn’t know. You haven’t told her yet.

“Toriel, when can I go home?”

It’s a fairly innocent question, in your opinion, one that doesn’t give away too much, but her smile falters, and she looks at you, especially at the pink ribbon in your hair, and seems to remember something. “What…? But…. this, this IS your home now.” Well then, this was definitely something that you weren’t expecting. You didn’t even consent to it, she just sort of…. decided that this is your home now. That’s honestly pretty weird. “Um… would you like to hear about this book that I am reading? It’s called “72 Uses for Snails”. How about it?”

“Look, you don’t understand- I need to get out of here. And maybe find a way to the surface, you know. Find my way back.” You’re trying to let her down gently, but everything is coming out way too damn bluntly, and you feel awful, especially when she looks at you like you’re slowly breaking her heart and smashing the remaining pieces to dust with a sledgehammer. But no, you have to steel your resolve. You’ve faced tougher challenges than this- you’ve seen yourself die, watched your friends die infinite times in infinite ways, you’ve died and become a god. It’s still hard, for some reason, though. It makes your heart ache horribly in your chest. You need to go back to your friends. It’s your duty to make sure they’re all okay. You need to make sure that they’re all fine. But god, none of Bro’s worst training could have prepared you for this.

She tries to redirect the conversation, saying, “Um… How about an exciting snail fact? Did you know that snails…. sometimes flip their digestive systems as they mature? Isn’t that interesting?”

“It would also be interesting if you just told me how to leave, you know. For uh, purposes of my education.” You say, and she’s silent for a long moment, looking at you. You think. She seems to be far away, distant for a few moments, and the smile drops from her face. Then, she takes off her reading glasses, and picks you up, gently setting you on the ground. For a moment, the action strikes you as weird, and you’re struck completely silent as she pockets the reading glasses.

“... I have to do something. Stay here.”

She gives you a smile before hurrying off, but suddenly, you have a bad feeling about this. You aren’t about to go and let her run off before you see just what the hell is so important that she has to go do it just as you’re trying to interrogate her about how to leave. You hurry after her, and you catch her going down the stairs. You wonder what she’s about to do in the basement, and you descend after her, coming to a purple hallway as violet as the rest of the Ruins are. She’s in the hallway ahead, just… standing there. It sort of weirds you out, and you nearly jump when she speaks, turning to you. 

“You wish to know how to return “home”, do you not?” She asks, and you nod, not really sure what to say in this situation. You hope that it’s just going to be this easy, that she’ll show you the door and see you out and you can go guilt free. “Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the Underground.... I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again.” Then she turns on her heel and keeps walking, but not before saying, “Be a good child and go upstairs.”

Of fucking course. You shouldn’t be caught off guard, and you sure as hell shouldn’t be feeling so fucking betrayed, because it always ends like this, doesn’t it? There’s always some fucking catch. This time, the catch is that the one person you’ve let get your guard down quickly, the one person you trusted after a day, is going to effectively keep you here against your will and have you live here in the Ruins. You should have expected it, because nothing ever goes this well for you. You can’t stop how much it hurts though.

Maybe Bro was right. Maybe you just aren’t fucking worth listening to.

You press on though, because you can’t turn back now. This is the point of no return, and you still have your friends to think about. Sure, they might not have been able to offer the same level of maternal love and affection that Toriel had basically poured onto you in droves, but they wouldn’t stab you in the back like this.

“You can’t just  _ do _ that.” You say, shaking your head, “I have to move on, come on- you can’t just keep me trapped here against my will. This isn’t fucking right.” She doesn’t even turn to reprimand you for cursing in that child’s voice of yours, and you think you can see a green and yellow striped sweater out of the corner of your eye, but they seem adamant on hiding. Chara really doesn’t want to have anything to do with this situation, do they?

“Every human that falls down here meets the same fate.” She says, the smile gone from her face. You can feel the coldness from where you are, and you shiver a bit from the frosty attitude. It’s so wrong, seeing someone so warm look so… cold. “I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave… They die.” Her words are biting, and even then, she just sounds…. so fucking miserable. It hurts your chest and you open your mouth, finally speaking up when you both come to a pause.

“I won’t die, though. I’ll be just fine.”

“You naive child…” You aren’t a fucking child, and you are far from naive, but you doubt that Toriel will try to listen to anything you have to say about your real age at this point. “If you leave the Ruins… They… Asgore, will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand?” And that’s what hurts most of all. You’ve heard those exact same words before.

_ You need this in the real world. If someone is beating you, what are you going to do, snivel and cry? You have to be ready to snap their necks. I’m only protecting you Dave, can’t you just fucking understand that? _

And you know it’s different now, because it’s all in a different context, but the words still leave you just as cold and numb as before. She’s doing this to keep you from dying. So was your Bro. She lavished you with love and affection, and Bro gave you things, tried to teach you lessons. They’re so fucking different, but you can only guess where words like that are going to lead you both, and it isn’t a good place. You’ve seen this Underground. You know what happens. You know that fighting happens. You know that you have to strife.

You just never wanted to strife with her.

“Go to your room.” She commands, and moves forward again, and you can’t even muster up any of your voice, not with your throat so dry and your body so damn cold. You follow after her and as she turns the corner, moving faster, she tells you, “Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning.” Before standing in front of a large, stone door with a crest stamped on it, the same crest as her robes. She has fire in her hands, and you can’t just let her destroy your chance at freedom, at trying to get through this Underground and finding your friends, “Asgore” and anyone else be damned. You can’t let her destroy the door.

It flashes in your mind, of course, that you could always just stay back. You could let your friends forget about you, let them get on with their lives as best they can without an emotionally fucked up screwhead like you, and just stay here, living with this woman and letting her coddle and mother you until you could maybe feel like someone normal, for once, or as normal as someone could be. But you can’t do it. You may have a phobia of a lot of things, a hatred for fighting, and a tendency to avoid too much social interaction like the plague, but if anything, you’re at least loyal to the people who have been with you through hell and back. You can’t abandon them. 

You walk forward, and she turns, face grave as a tombstone. “You want to leave so badly?” She lets out a breath, stepping forward. “Then you are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself. Prove to me that you are strong enough to survive!” 

This is the opposite of everything you wanted to do. You never wanted to fight Toriel, have a strife with her. You never wanted to prove yourself to anyone.

But if this is what you have to do, then what choice do you have?

Your soul is out in the open, branded by the symbol of Time, the gear that is in the center of your striped sweater. Her hands are flashing a bright red, red as coals, then white, and you know what kind of attack she’s preparing. Of course, the one who you want to view as a mother so badly would be able to make sick fires too, albeit in a completely different and more literal way than you do. She looks at you, waiting for you to make the first move, and there’s still the fight option. You could prove yourself, the way that you tried time and again to prove yourself against Bro. You can fight, raise your sword and attack. You could even make this all quick, make it nearly painless, so that she would be wounded but ultimately satisfied and let you go.

But you can’t do it. Your hand hovers over the fight button, and you can feel it shaking, and you feel so stupid for it. This choice shouldn’t be so hard. You should try to do it, try to fight back and show her that you mean business, but if you did, you’re not sure how much you would hurt her. You don’t want to hurt her, the person who didn’t care about how you didn’t listen to her and was just worried about you being hurt, even though you wandered the Ruins by yourself when you shouldn’t have. She baked you a pie and made sure you were comfortable in her house. Hell, she was even preparing a goddamn curriculum so that she could teach you shit. She was preparing to keep you there for good, sure, but she was at least planning on being fucking kind while doing it, which is more than you can say about anyone else.

You can’t press fight. You instead press act, trying to talk to her. “Come on, Toriel. You can’t just keep me here forever, you know that, right? I have to go out and find some people. I have to go and find my friends.”

She looks a bit taken aback, but then her features steel and before long you’re bombarded by fire. Before when she healed you, the flames were warm and didn’t do any damage. Shit was different now. You try to dodge, and for the most part, you do a good job, but there’s still some pain there. You can see your health, and it’s the same as the game, you think, but this time you see that the attacks are doing some damage, but not a lot. You guess that you might have to use items to get it up later on, like every RPG ever, but right now you’re more interested in trying to reason with Toriel and get out by doing what she taught you to do in a fight. Strike up a friendly conversation. She’s taught you too well.

_ Ironically, talking does not seem to be the solution to this situation. _

You think that you can hear Chara, but their voice is quiet, small. They’re trying to hide away, it seems, and you wonder what the hell their deal seems to be, since you haven’t heard them since when you were bickering with them earlier. That thought is short lived, because you exhausted your turn trying and failing to come up with conversation topics. The fire comes again, and you jump as high as you can to keep away from most of it, but her hands are coming as well so you have to watch out for that. 

You remember, though, what one of the Froggits in the Ruins said to you (or rather, what Chara had translated it as). One day, you might have to spare someone even if their name isn’t yellow. You think that perhaps you finally realize what you can do in this situation, and you press the Mercy button. You’re going to spare Toriel. She stares right through you, raising her hands and coming for you. A flame hits your arm and fuck, you can feel how that stings, shit, that might just leave a mark. Your health is still whittling down, and your vision is starting to blur a bit around the edges, but you get right back up, panting a bit even as you spare her again.

“Attack me or run away!” She booms, and you feel like you’re going to cry, because you remember the first strife you ever had, and those were his words too.  _ Fight me or run like a coward _ . Except that time, you didn’t have a choice. This time, you do have one, and you’re going to do the right thing to make sure that this monster isn’t hurt. Even if she’s hurting you now, she’s only doing it because you fucked up, right? You’re not doing as she says, not when it really counts.

“What are you proving this way?” She gets out through gritted teeth as the next wave of fire comes your way, washing over you before you can dodge and leaving your skin feeling burned as if you bathed in the stuff. 

“I’m proving that I don’t need to fight! Isn’t that obvious by now?!”She looks at you, and you know your health is starting to dwindle to half, and you’re prepared to do something about that. She looks so fucking pained to be doing this, and when you spare her, there’s no fire bursting towards you. It doesn’t hit you at all, and anywhere you go it flutters away. Toriel isn’t fighting as hard now. She doesn’t even seem to be trying.

“Stop it. Stop… looking at me that way.” You hadn’t realized it before, but your shades are gone, knocked onto the ground either by fire or by the sheer speed of your dodging. You must not have noticed it due to all the stupid emotional turmoil you’re going through. No wonder all that fire was so bright and everything seemed so vivid. You’re not sure what kind of look you’re giving her, but you hope to yourself (since you’re technically a God and all) that it’ll help change her mind about all this and you can go. The fire yet again cascades down around you, never touching you. “Go away, Dave. Go back to your room.”

You don’t move. You let the fire pass you by and just silently press mercy and spare again. You have so much you want to say right now, but your throat is constricting, and you can’t even bring yourself to speak. Your eyes are burning, your skin is burning, your throat and lungs are burning, and for a second, you think that you’re engulfed in flames. You aren’t, though, none of them have hit you in the last five minutes, none of Toriel’s magic attacks. You’re still at half health, and you look up at her, watching as the fire goes out in her hands. She looks at you, pleadingly, and this is so different. This is different because it worked- the choice you made worked, and she isn’t trying to hurt you anymore.

“I know you want to go home, but…” She starts, eyes forlorn and so damn sad that it makes your chest ache. Even though she did this, started this strife and roughed you up a bit, she still stopped because she didn’t want to actually hurt you. She wasn’t trying to toughen you up for any game or outside world. She was just trying to protect you. “But please, Dave… go upstairs now.” You mutely shake your head, and then you spare her again. “I promise I will take good care of you here.” She’s smiling at you, looking at you so hopefully, and you don’t doubt for a second that she would, that she would take such amazing care of you and let you live without fear of any game. But you can’t stay, can you? Even though you really, truly want to. “I know we do not have much, but…”

You shake your head again, taking a step towards her. She frowns, and you can feel your own heart starting to shatter a bit too, like it’s mirroring hers. “We can have a good life, here. So, please…. just let me… Why are you making this so difficult?”

“I have to go.” You get out quietly, and those three little words are killing you slowly, making your eyes water. This time, you don’t have to hide it behind your shades.

Eventually, she smiles, a humorless, bitter little smile, and chuckles. “Haha… Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child.” Every one of her words hits in the worst way possible, resonating with you so deeply. You wish you could go over, give her a hug, and then tell her that you’ll do it, that you’ll stay here. You’ll learn everything she has prepared for you. You’ll eat snail pie and anything else she makes. You’ll make friends with everyone in the Ruins. You want to tell her that you’ll even read all of the old books that she wants to share with you. But you can’t, because you aren’t going to do that. You have to have some self control.

Then she looks down at her feet, before looking back up at you, nodding slowly. “No… I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this.” And that hits you even harder than everything else, because she’s doing it. She’s actually listening to you and letting you do what you need to do. She’s trying so hard to understand where you’re coming from, and you’re just going to fucking leave her here.

She takes a step towards you, and the box around you is dissolving down to nothing. The fight is over, and she’s here, smiling down at you warmly even as she says, “My expectations… my loneliness… my fear… For you, my child, I will put them aside. If you truly wish to leave the Ruins… I will not stop you.” She’s letting you go. You didn’t even have to lay a finger on her, and she’s letting you go. She bends down to your level, smiling so sadly that you feel both numb and like you’re going to break apart at the seams, glass heart and paper soul shattering and burning away. You don’t know what to say here. You’re struck dumb, speechless, unable to let the vomit that normally falls from your throat in a waterfall of bullshit get past the dam of your teeth.

“However, when you leave… please do not come back.” She sounds close to crying herself, and you can see the tears in her eyes. It must be something that would break her, much in the same way it’s breaking you, to see you come back. “I hope you understand.” And you do. You really do. She reaches out, then, and wraps her large furry arms around you, bringing you in for a hug. For a moment, you can’t really do anything but freeze up. Then, though, your arms wrap around her, and you can’t help yourself. You feel so stupid, like such a fucking baby, but you’re sobbing into her neck, tearing spilling out over your cheeks and you can’t stop yourself. She doesn’t make fun of you for it, or push you roughly away. Instead, she runs a hand down your back, warm and soothing, and you think she must also be healing you before you can feel all the aches of battle melt away with warmth. 

She pulls away when you’re finally able to stop, wiping almost violently at your eyes and trying to get the last remnants of tears out of them. You look up at her as she says, “Goodbye, my child.” so tenderly and so heartbroken. Then she walks around you, and you turn to watch her disappear down the purple corridor, turning the corner and leaving your sight. You’re free to go now. You’re free to leave the Ruins, and continue on your quest to find your friends. You can continue on, and never have to worry about Toriel again, because surely another child will come, someone who actually is a child, and will want to stay with her and be lavished with care. You have all of your friends to worry about.

But god, you’re so fucking selfish, because you want to go back. You wish you could just go back to before this all happened, so that you could actually enjoy the little bit of time you had with Toriel in her house before interrogating her and forcing her to this extreme. You care about your friends, sure, but even then, you just want to go back, be able to maybe even call Toriel ‘mom’ like you originally wanted to do. Your eyes close tightly, and you just want to be able to forget about what just happened for a while, but here you are, just sitting here and feeling sorry for yourself.

When you open your eyes, though, you’re in front of a cozy little house in the Ruins. You’re disoriented, even if you are filled with determination, because you were just in front of the door that would take you out of the Ruins, and here you are. You went back in time. In fact, you can even see Toriel through the open door, looking just as excited as she had before when presenting you with her surprise. 

This is the first time you’ve ever LOADed your SAVE.

In fact, this will be far from the last time you do it, too. Of course, you don’t know that just yet, so for now, all you do is go into the house and hope that this isn’t some messed up dream that leaves you reliving these moments while you’re passed out in front of the door to the rest of the Underground.

If this is a dream, after all, you aren’t sure if you ever want to wake up.

**_= = = > FRISK: Wake, perchance, to dreams._ **

Your name is Frisk, but when you open your eyes, you’re somewhere that you don’t expect to be.

You had just closed your eyes mere moments ago, and yet, you’re nowhere in the small, slightly apple smelling room that Roxy had brought you to to nap. You’d think that this is a dream, except you have control over your body, and are able to slowly get onto your knees. You’ve dreamt before, and none of your dreams tend to make sense. This is different. This is off. This is utterly, completely, strange and wrong. 

You’re back in the Underground, somehow. You’re back in the Underground, in the place that you were going to go before you were going to reset. You had planned to tell Sans, and then apologize for what you were about to do. Then the man who seemed to have come from some Void appeared and spirited you away, just as you were making your way through Waterfall. It’s just as cold as always, and you shiver a bit, You wipe the melting snow off of your legs, and you find that strange, that you’ve been laying down in the snow. Then again, if this is a dream, that would make sense. You still aren’t sure that this is a dream.

It’s disorienting, to say the least, and it leaves you dizzy. For a moment, you sit back in the snow, looking at the town around you. You’re in front of the cheerful sign that says ‘Welcome to Snowdin!’, and you can see the town stretching out before you. But… there’s something wrong. There’s something very, very wrong here. It’s much quieter than the last time you came here. Usually, there are people bustling about, going into the shops and places all around the town. There’s usually someone stocking up gifts underneath the tree for Gryftrot, but right now, there’s no one. You think that, maybe, everyone just went to sleep? It would make sense. Everyone here needed to sleep eventually, and even if you’ve never seen a time when the town doesn’t have at least one resident outside, it could just be very, very early in the morning, before the time when birds normally sing.

When the dizziness in your head lets up, you get up one more time, and start walking. Strangely enough, you don’t see your old save point where it normally is. Normally, it’s between the inn and shop. There’s nothing but a box there now, and you decide to have a look inside of it, see if you still have your butterscotch-cinnamon pie and steaks. You open it up, and for a moment, you aren’t comprehending. These… aren’t your items. You’ve never picked up any weapons beyond the stick you carry. Why is there an empty gun inside of the box? Then, you end up realizing there’s more inside. You fall back, a small sound leaving your lips as the lid of the box falls closed, leaving all those…. things inside of it.

The box is absolutely filled with Snowman Pieces. 

You remember that Snowman, back in Snowdin Forest. They were so eager and excited, and when they had heard that you carried that one piece they’d given you all over the Underground, they were so happy that they couldn’t even stand it. You’ve only ever gotten one piece from them. Someone took much more of them- in fact, it looked like so much that it looks like they… It looked like they killed them.

Oh, god, you have to tell someone! Someone has to know that there’s a monster around that’s hurting people. You know that Undyne is here- she should be, after the fire that had gone to live in her house after you both accidentally started burning it down, but you need to tell someone immediately. The closest place there is is Grillby’s. You’re sure that the Canine Unit of the Royal Guard will be able to sniff out whoever did this. There’s that empty gun inside of it too. They can use that to find the scent. You scramble up and run as fast as your little legs can carry you, which is certainly very fast, after all that practice dodging enemies. You don’t see a single person around the town. No one is there. No one but you.

You burst into Grillby’s, and you’re about to go to the table where the dogs normally sit, but you freeze right in your tracks. The diner is completely empty, and nearly in ruins. There are tables, chairs knocked over, things littering the ground. You don’t understand. Grillby has always been a neat monster- he would have never allowed all of this to fly in his business. Then, as you make your way further into the deserted room, you find deep claw marks on the floor, as if some monster was dragged throughout the place and tortured. Then, there’s the dust. There’s dust, covering nearly every surface. At first, you think, you hope to anything that can hear you, that the dust is just out of old age, that this place was simply left for a long time. But no.

You’ve seen this, in all the times you’ve gone through the Underground and killed just one or two monsters who were really trying to kill you. This, this dust that covers everything, seemingly ground into the ground as footprints, is monster dust. Someone came in here, and… they killed everyone inside. 

You can feel your heart pounding in your chest, fighting against your ribcage as you heave out a little breath, trying to take deep, deep breaths, even though your lungs are burning and your throat feels like it’s getting tighter and you’re trembling something fierce, because you have to try and calm down, have to try and think rationally and not think about the fact that you’re about to fight for your life against something that’s even worse than anything you’ve ever faced before.

You have to find someone. You have to find anyone!

You run out of Grillby’s and run north, knocking frantically on the door of the little slimes, the knock that the one inside loves to hear. There’s no answer. The Ice Wolf isn’t throwing ice into the river towards the Core. You run back South, but in the shop there’s no one there, and in the inn there’s dust and the torn stuffing from a decoy rabbit. No one in the Library, no one in the houses- you couldn’t even find anyone at Sans and Papyrus’ house. You even try opening your mouth and speaking, voice cracking with the effort to scream, to say something above a raspy whisper. 

There’s no one here. There’s no one here. There’s no one left. You’re all alone, and you’re so, so scared. This has to be a dream. You have to be dreaming. But why does everything feel so  _ real _ ? Why is everything like this?

You try one more time, hoping, just hoping, that maybe this is all some sort of trick. You call for Papyrus, for Undyne, for Sans. Your throat burns horribly, and you feel like throwing up, but you have to try. Your voice is giving out soon enough, and you start heading east, deciding to try and keep looking in Waterfall, see if everyone took refuge there. You don’t get very far, because you see something partially buried in the snow. Something bright red. You bend down and pick it up, hoping it isn’t what you think it is…

_ *You got PAPYRUS’ SCARF _

You stare down in horror at the red scarf in your hands, covered liberally in ice and dust. Someone not only got done killing everyone in the town, but they actually killed him. They killed Papyrus. You can’t help the sob that breaks from your throat, and you fall to your knees in the snow. This isn’t a dream, is it? Whatever place you were in before, the place that the man brought you, it must have been a dream, or a comatose state of some kind. You’re wide awake now, and you feel like everything around you is breaking, because Papyrus is the last person who could have ever deserved to die. He always was so nice to everyone. He couldn’t even find the heart to kill you, in any timeline that you fought with him. You never died in battle with him, because he never wanted for you to be dead. He didn’t deserve to die. He should be alive.

You hear the sound of snow crunching behind you, and you turn your head, your heart catching right in your throat. Through your tears, their form is blurry, and they are taller than you. They got older- maybe it had been a year for them, or maybe even two, but you know that they are bigger and stronger than you now. Their LOVE is so high you can feel it, radiating off of them and making your blood run cold. You can hear a familiar voice, a voice that once was so sweet, even when they had been rude to you or were being sarcastic when narrating your adventure. 

You slowly stand up, and turn around. You’re looking at yourself. It’s another Frisk.

But their eyes are open wide, nothing but whiteness there. They have blood on their face, though. Who did they kill? What human could possibly have blood so candy red? Their sweater is much dustier than anything you’ve ever seen, and their walk is so uncoordinated, shambling. The other Frisk is looking right at you, staring right through you it seems, and you think your heart is stopping in your chest. Behind them, you can see the apparition of the ghost child who you came to view as a sibling. At least, you think that’s what they used to be. The spirit behind the other you is larger, more warped, with the most horrible grin on their black, oily lips. It opens its mouth wide, and you can see row after row or misshapen, rotting teeth. That thing behind the other you is not Chara. Not anymore.

Your hands are trembling, even as you bring them up to sign, to ask them not to do it, but it’s too late. They’re starting a FIGHT, and they’re gripping the knife in their hand so tightly. You’re afraid. You’re so afraid, even as the option menu comes up for you. You can see their LOVE. You’ve never seen the LOVE of any other person before. But you see it clearly now. Is it because the other you sees you as an enemy? Is this their run of the Underground? 

Their LOVE is at 35. With all the dust on them, you can’t help but think that they’ve done what the Prophecy has said that you’re supposed to do. The Underground must now be empty. There truly is no one left, because they’ve set out and killed everyone, even the ones who might have been taken into hiding. And the blood must have been from a human who might have fallen down here… Or so you think. You’ve never seen blood so bright red. It’s so much more bright than the blood that a normal human might have. 

The other you growls, glaring at you with such open hatred, visible even in the white nothingness that was their eyes. “You’re in my  _ way _ .” They aren’t signing anything, and you might be panicking, you might simply drop dead from fright. You can’t sign correctly, not with your hands shaking so much. You press act, but there are only two options- pray and beg.

You try begging, looking to your alternate self pleadingly as you speak, voice quiet and raspy as anything. “Please, you don’t have to fight. We can just talk things out, alright. I can help you, I, I can help Chara too- just please, you don’t really want to  _ do _ this! I’m sure that we can just-” You don’t get done with what you’re saying, because you have to dodge a strike from their knife. The creature behind them laughs at you, and they’re talking now.  _ In our way, in our way. _

You can feel it. They’re grinning, both of them are, and they’re enjoying this. How many battles did they get through? How many fights did they win? How many fights did they end with just one strike with that dusty and bloody knife? You’re so terrified you can’t see straight, you can’t see past all the tears clouding your vision and rolling down your cheeks. Why is this version of you like this? So horrible? Is this some sick tide of fate, something that life is forcing you to face? 

Is this your punishment for nearly resetting and killing everyone?

Because that’s what you had wanted to do. Back in Waterfall, while you were passing through, you were thinking about it. You were thinking,  _ I don’t want to do this. I don’t like this. But I just have to see… _ because you were giving up hope. You couldn’t do it. You couldn’t save everyone, no matter what timeline you were in. You always just made it to the surface, alone, with nowhere to go to but a place that could never be home. You tried so many times to break open the barrier, but you just couldn’t do it. You nearly did this to yourself. You nearly did this to  _ Chara _ , oh god- you nearly killed everyone. You nearly took away their happy ending, you nearly became this. 

No amount of begging could get you out of this, so again you try to pray. The other Frisk tries to stab you again, and you dodge. You know that no one is likely to come and help you, and you don’t deserve to be helped with what you were about to do, but you can at least hope. Even if your Determination can do nothing now, you can certainly have hope. You try again to pray, hoping that someone would come and help you, that one of Karkat’s friends could do it. 

You aren’t done praying when the next strike comes, but before the blade can hit, the other Frisk is frozen in time. Chara, or what’s left of them, growls in this inhuman voice of theirs, pounding the ground with clawed fists and snarling,  _ Let them out! Let them  _ **_out_ ** _! LET THEM  _ **_K҉͞I̡L̴͢L̷̨̀ YOU!_ ** You turn behind you but already you’re being scooped up into a pair of arms. There’s another soul there, but it disappears, and so does the box. You can’t help but gape. Someone is powerful enough to manually stop a fight themselves, and now they’re flying away with you. 

You look up and the girl with ram horns grins back at you, before looking back to the other you. “So that’s the human grub who killed that alternate timeline Karkat before they were able to be put down…” So that was the cherry red on them. They killed that nice troll boy from before, or, another version of him, and then they were ‘put down’. You’ve only heard that term used whenever adults talk about taking dogs and cats to the kennel and they never come back.

You’re crying again, because somehow, that hoping worked. Your praying brought a savior, and even though the other you can move again, and is yelling after you and the winged troll currently carrying you, you’re relieved. You’re so relieved, and you’re so sorry. You can’t help yourself- you don’t know if she understands sign language, and the words are already on your lips. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, please, believe me, I’m sorry, I really am…” On repeat, you can’t help yourself from just repeating these apologies over and over. 

“Oh dear!” says the girl, looking down at you. Your eyes screw shut, and she says kindly, “Well, now that we’ve found your dreamself Fisk- Or is it Frisk? What an odd name! In any case, now that we’ve found your dreamself, I can bring you to Roxy. She’s been looking all over for you, you know!” 

Thank God for that- you’re going to see someone somewhat familiar. You don’t know what this girl means by dreamselves or alternate versions, but you can’t make heads or tails of anything at the moment. All you’ve gathered is, this is a dream, a horrible, horrible dream.

Maybe if you keep your eyes closed tight enough, you can wake up.

**_= = = > ???: Seethe_ **

You can’t be me. I am the only person who can be me, and I feel my own emotions. It’s in your best interest to learn that quickly, while I find a way to get to you.

My name is Frisk. 

I am now dead. I can’t just “wake up”.

This doesn’t change anything, though. Even if that other me is gone, carried away by some other horned being that deserves to die like the rest, it doesn’t change anything. I just need to find a way to kill off any of those flesh suits, the humans and monsters who roam here. I will eradicate the enemy. Me and Chara, we will  _ both _ eradicate the enemy.

And what enemy could that be?

Life itself, of course.

But for now, the only thing we can do is think of our next move. This place, this… bubble. It’s almost like a prison. I can’t get out, unless it’s to another bubble where I can find memories of the past, worthless memories that don’t mean anything. At least the humans and grey creatures, the things Chara has seen in other bubbles while peering outside into the void of nothingness that surrounds us, have enough soul left over after death to become ghosts that can somehow be murdered again. Monsters don’t leave anything behind. Nothing but dust and broken memories of nothing.

It’s a shame. I’d very much like to see them all again, just to wring their necks one more time. It would have been fun, especially if I could kill Sans again in front of his brother. After all, the little asshole had given me quite a bad time, the first time I killed him. Not only that, but I could look at Papyrus, at that naive, hopeful twit, and ask him again if he thinks I could be a good person.

But those fantasies are best left to another time, because Chara, ever sweet, ever helpful Chara, found something in the snow. Something dropped. I go over to see just what it is, and find the remnants of green fabric, with a flashing light pattern along the edge.

_ *I got the CAIRO FABRIC SCRAP _

I don’t know what it will do, but Chara says it has great power. I know that they’re right. They’re always right about these things. As we went along our way in the Underground, killing everything, they got to be more and more adept at telling me things about who I was killing. 

I smile, and tie the scrap of fabric around my wrist. There is no rule on equipment, not here in these bubbles. I can wear as much as I want. I can do as I please.

Now let’s see if the new power wrapped around my hand will let me go into that golden bubble not too far off...


	6. Part 5: In Which We See Much Trolling and the Question of Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw man, I am so sorry this took so long! Things have just been busy over here, with AP stuff and all, haha. Well, here's the new chapter, and here's to hoping that I can work a bit more on the next one over spring break!

**_= = > DAVE: Try to figure out what kind of time bullshit just happened._ **

Well that's way easier said than done. You kind of have no fucking clue what happened here. One moment you’re just standing there and feeling like a sorry ass bag of self pity, and now here you are, back outside of Toriel's house, looking at the little goat woman who seems to be slowly growing a little bit anxious with you just standing outside and doing nothing. You should probably go inside and make sure she doesn't somehow end up thinking that you don't want to go inside, because that’s pretty much the exact opposite of what you want to do.

You walk inside the house, and the scene plays out in exactly the same way- she tells you there's pie and brings you over to a room she wants to be yours, petting your hair before rushing off because something's burning. You're left standing in front of the room for a few minutes before you hear a very familiar voice behind you, tone somehow more hostile than usual. “Get in. Now.”

You go into the room, sit on the bed, and look to the child who has their arms crossed over their chest, eyebrows furrowed. Then you take the chance to ask the one thing you really want to know. “What the everloving fuck just happened, and why is my time shit kicking in now, of all damn times?”

“I have no friggin' clue what you mean by 'time stuff',” Good to know that this kid is still adamant on saying little baby curses despite being the 'older' one, because if things had even changed minutely then you're pretty sure that would mean that you somehow got stuck with the kid version of Karkat, and while you love the guy, his past self was a sore pain in the fruity rumpus, what with all that leaderly bullshit and yelling about how either you or John were the leader of the group. Hard to believe that was the intolerable little shit you grew close enough with to deface Rose's books with the crudest phalluses imaginable, but them's the bones. Friendship was a disease and there was no cure, but what you have with him is a terminal illness known to both of your species. “But I do know this- what you just did isn't normal.”

“What, never seen someone turn back time before?” You ask, leaning back and deciding that the best thing to do in this situation was to play it as cool as a cucumber and not let it be known that you're kind of dreading this because this means that you'll have to fight Toriel again and you don't want to do that to the sweet old lady. It's inevitable, of course- no matter how many times you might selfishly wish to go back, you'll have to move on eventually, and the fact that you actually did go back was proof enough that your previous thinking had been dangerous.

Then the ghost surprises you by saying, “No, not that! Of  _ course _ I've seen time being rewound- do you have any idea how many gosh darn times I've had to go through watching a kid with a lot of determination fight Toriel? A lot! A heck of a lot! But that's not what's weird. You LOADed your SAVE without nearly dying.” They look at you as if you're something ready to snap at their ankles. “Usually you can only reset whenever you want- you have to be close to dying to LOAD, or else be more determined than that and actually be close to a God, and I know for a fact you're nothing like that.”

You pause for a moment, considering their words. Somehow, things just got a hell of alot easier, and a hell of alot more ironic. If you could just LOAD your SAVE, then obviously that means that you can just find a way to SAVE in a lot of places and LOAD it all to go back to them. From what it sounds like, it was a power that someone seemed to have, a power that you might have more dominion over since you're basically a God of Time for this universe. That doesn't answer, though, just who the hell Chara had seen this power with before, so your next inquiry is, “Who did you see go back in time? Or what, was it you?”

“Not me. It was Frisk.” Frisk? You think that's the first time you've heard that name, so color you interested in such a wide rainbow that Terezi could probably smell it across universe boundaries. “They were supposed to be the seventh fallen human- the one with a red soul, like yours. They didn't speak or anything, but they were a heck of a lot better than you.” Chara scrunches up their face and you roll your eyes, hoping that by the sheer virtue of the fact they seem to want to find ways to hate you they know you're doing it behind your shades. “They could do the same thing. They had SAVEs and LOADs and resets. The six that fell before, though…” You're guessing that the six kids that fell before didn't have such a rad power backing them up on this, so you press further.

“C'mon kid, we don't have time to go running around the bush here. Well, I guess we technically do, but I'm an impatient fuck and you're not giving me anything straight.” You lean forward, hands dangling over the side of the bed, “Spit it out- what other six humans?” 

“For one thing, I'm  _ older _ than you, dummy,” Ah yes, classic Chara, “and for the second, the story of these guys isn't all too great, alright? They all dropped down here and then they made it to Asgore's Castle, and they all died. None of them had special powers- three of them were mute too. That's it.” So there it was again, talk of the child-murdering King. Really, you haven't given it much thought until this moment, mostly because in the game, you faced dangers that were more… urgent. A universe eating bastard with a peg leg, a literal immortal Queen of an entire warrior race, all the versions of Jack- they had been the biggest concerns you were faced with. This guy, Lord Homicide? You didn't even register it until now.

Well, shit, no wonder Toriel had been so heartbroken. All this does is serve to remind you that you have to eventually leave and make Toriel think that she's sending you off to your death. That stings, really badly, even if you do have a plan to one day come back here.

But instead, you ignore it like the mature teen-in-a-child's-body that you are and ask, “Well shit, what about the others? Did you talk to them any?”

And Chara apparently had talked to them, just as much as they talked to this Frisk character. There was girl with a cyan soul who apparently carried around a toy knife and loved detective stories, a boy with boxing gloves who thought Rocky was the coolest shit ever and bravely ran into danger, and a yellow soul that was obsessed with old Western movies but used to be a different color. Then, the ghost talks about the four humans that came before you, the ones that wouldn't speak.

“The third one that came around was a dancer, dark blue soul. I don't remember his name,” Chara had slowly forgotten the names, apparently, and you aren't about to press the kid too hard on this. After all, the first six of these kids are dead. That would be a fucking dick thing to do, especially since you just met this kid earlier. “He communicated solely through interpretive dance. I kid you not, it was the most annoying thing I had to sit through, just watching him dance throughout his battles in these super old ballet shoes of his. But, at the very least, he was honest. He was a stand up guy, up until the very end.” Then you learn that this kid was stabbed through the chest.

“Right after him there was another, the one with the violet soul. They lugged around this huge notebook everywhere they went, and wrote whatever they wanted to say, so it was easy enough to understand, thank God. They never did have good eyesight, so they kept mistaking all the dogs for cats. They were really, really persistent.” And how did they die? Stabbed through the stomach and then practically cremated in a hail of fire.

“After her there was another girl, one with a green soul. She was nice, probably the nicest out of all of them. She would always do this thing with her hands, because she didn't actually know sign language, some weird charades to get her point across.” Somehow, you find the fact that this girl with the green soul was killed being crushed by a hail of fire vaguely familiar.

Then Chara begins talking about Frisk. “Frisk was different, though. They had determination, so they just kept coming back after they died. Well- at least, most times. There was once, where they were so close to dying that their determination almost wasn't enough. Back with Flowey, they were shot with all those bullets right through the chest, and they were gone before Toriel came. They came back, though. They always came back, and they always went through everything without feeling too sorry for themselves and LOADing because they felt bad for leaving people.” Wow kid, you want to say, that is literally the most unsubtle shade ever thrown. You could literally throw shade better than that on a hot desert day with the sun high overhead and no goddamn tree in sight. 

This Frisk kid, though. You guess that you both have some things in common- red soul and being shot by bullets and time powers. If you ever get out of this mess and find your friends, you'll have to look for them, just to do a little side by side comparison with your silent counterpart. If they’re even here, that is- from what it sounds like, they were supposed to fall down here instead of you. So that leaves only one question;

Where the hell is Frisk?

That's a question you might look into, after the entire going around finding everyone and getting to the surface bit is done. For now, you give the most melodramatic groan you can, probably winning the Oscar that should have gone to Leonardo DiCaprio but didn't because it's still 2009 (you're pretty sure, anyway) and he's probably never going to get one at this point. You haul yourself off the bed with a little, “Alright, alright, no need to be so gentle and subtle with my delicate lady sensibilities, just lay it all out in the open- I'll go and get us up and moving on.”

You still don't want to, but you guess that this shit is inevitable. You can't stay here for long before Toriel decides on her own to destroy the Door, so you may as well be proactive and get this over with so you can move on and maybe ignore the fact that you'll have to relive that bittersweet victory of yours again and watch Toriel's heart break for a seventh time in her life. You march down the hallway and into the kitchen, taking a breath as you watch her slice a piece of butterscotch-cinnamon pie onto a plate for you. She turns, looks at you with a warm smile and holds out the piece, saying, “Ah, there you are! Now, is there something you need?”

“Yeah, actually. When can I go home?”

**_= = > VRISKA: Find Aradia and figure out what the fuck is happening with the dreambubbles!!!!!!!!_ **

Your name is VRISKA SERKET, and if your moirail hadn't coerced you into this, you would have been asking why the fuck you are currently floating with her through the dreambubbles on a search for Aradia and the kid she has with her. 

Really, had this been any other scenario, you would have blown it off. So what if a human grub has a little tendency for violence? It wouldn't have been the first time a kid about five or six sweeps killed someone about their age. You're used to that shit being a way of life- back on Alternia, even before you and your now-moirail reached the age of five, you'd both killed countless other trolls on your expeditions through FLARPing. Death essentially became a way of life for all of you through the game. So what's the problem? Well, apparently the big problem has to do primarily with the fact that this human grub has a particularly nasty hellbeast attached to them, and also with the fact that they apparently are planning on leaving the memory bubbles they were trapped in and heading off to other bubbles that held ghosts.

Terezi warns you about the dangers of it as she hangs off of your neck, head turned upwards as your wings flutter as fast as possible to stay airborne. “There are way too many possibilities with this little shit- there are all sorts of freaky artifacts they could have found in their bubbles that could have come from anywhere. Jack, that stupid fucking puppet, hell, even the ghost killing asshole we ground into oblivion himself! Depending on what that kid has, they could do just about anything, like become weirdo candy beasts or be able to kill dreamselves or ghosts.” That second thing sounds like a hell of a problem then, at least in your book.

“Okay, and? Even if the kid can kill dreamselves, what's the use in worrying about that? We'd just need to keep you, Fussyfangs, and Loudmouth away from them and it should all be fine! After all, the rest of our dreamselves are Gods- not even Lord English could kill us, not unless it was one of the oooooooonly two goddamn stipulations our immortality has!” This seems to be an easily solved problem, open and shut. Let the kid try and murder the ghosts inside- unless they had a very special piece of that demon puppet, that shit isn't happening.

Terezi shrugs as much as a person hanging around the neck of a fairy can, turns her head, and takes a deep sniff, which you roll your eyes at, before you notice that she isn't sniffing you. She's sniffing out something that's just  _ ahead _ of you. You look up and there it is, you see a spot of red in the distance, no doubt the very person you’re looking for. Hell, you still have no damn clue why Terezi apparently needs Aradia now of all times, while she has that kid hanging around her, but she's the Seer here so the best you can do is trust your moirail and fly up to the other god. Aradia turns to you and smiles, the human in her arms shaking like a sick wriggler. Geez, what the hell was this kid's problem?

“Ah, there you are! I was just taking Frisk to find where Roxy and Calliope have gone. Is there something the matter?”

Terezi nods, turning her head to more fully face Aradia's approximate direction and saying, “Yeah, I'd say we have a big fucking problem going through several dreambubbles it shouldn't be going through. That duo, the other human grub and it's weird ass demon sidekick are on the move, and there are literally so many possibilities for what's going on that I'm surprised my thinkpan hasn't gone haywire trying to discern every minute change from another- in other words, this kid has the potential to fuck shit up, and from what it seems, they're most likely headed off to one of the main Prospit bubbles.” Aradia nods, looking seriously for a moment down towards the ground.

“If that's the case, then we need to go to evacuate the bubble and make sure the human doesn't go too far. They seem to be worked up in a frenzy- I'll tell you more about what happened on the way there. But…” The troll looks down at the child in her grasp and says, “We also need to make sure that Frisk here, our timeline's Frisk, is somewhere safe.”

“Just leave them in a Derse bubble or some shit.” You suggest, much to the apparent dismay of your moirail, who smacks you upside the head. You glare down at her, “What????????”

“Vriska, human grubs are way more vulnerable than us. The kid could get kidnapped or some shit, and then you know what happens? We doom this entire goddamned timeline because sources say they're gonna be important later on.” You groan a bit, wondering what the hell this has to do with anything. 

“Let's just quickly find a babysitter for them then!!!!!!!!”

“Not enough time,” You love Terezi to death, don't get it wrong- she's a pretty rad moirail to have and a pretty great overall friend- but you hate when she gets like this, overly serious about shit that isn't even that much of a concern! Or, maybe, it was sort of a concern and you just know what she's about to suggest, and it's a suggestion you absolutely fucking hate. One of you three has to stay with the kid, and if Terezi deliberately sought out Aradia, that could only mean that the next suggestion is,

“Vriska, you need to take care of the kid for now. It shouldn't be hard! Besides, from what it seems, we're gonna need Aradia's Time shit more than we'll need your luck, so it's just this little thing.” There it is, the suggestion you expected, but not a suggestion you in any way want to hear.

“Terezi, how the everloving  _ fuck _ am I supposed to keep this kid occupied for however long you're off doing your shit?” 

“Look, I know that fragile fleshy thing Aradia's holding is young as hell and you're probably the last choice anyone had in mind for hanging around the kid, but just take care of them until the Roxy human and the cherub find you! Frisk probably isn't going to be that bad; just make sure they don't die.” You sigh loudly, knowing full well your moirail can hear it and deliberately overdoing it to blow in her face, but even though you don't understand why luck isn't going to get the job done in this scenario and don't like the fact that they're just shoving this fleshy responsibility on you, you guess you can't exactly object. Last time you took charge because you knew shit and had three years to figure everything out. This time, it's time for the Seers to get on board and take charge, since they're the only ones capable of gathering any sort of useful information now that it isn't readily available to the ghosts. Not with your new universe involved.

You hate this fucking situation. There’s no way to take charge, and you know just about jack shit.

You're not gonna win this one, though, so you cede defeat and roll your eyes, glancing up to where Aradia was watching the proceedings with the now very quiet and still human grub in her arms looking at the two of you. “Fiiiiiiiine. I guess I don't really have a choice in the matter, this time around. Let's get down to the ground and just get this over with.” Terezi paps your cheek as you and the other God here descend down to the ground of this bubble, a sandy beach. This is one of the dancestors' memory, but what memory it was, you're honestly not all too sure. You also really don't give a shit, and hope to God you don't run into any one of those assholes.

Terezi grins at you and lets go, while Aradia gently sets the human child down. Frisk doesn't really do much, just stand there while Terezi moves over to Aradia to wrap her arms around the Maid’s neck, even while still talking to you. “See, I knew you'd come around! I'll tell you how everything goes when I get back, and you can get in on this planning so that maybe we can draw up a somewhat more conclusive plan other than 'find the other green one'. Just make sure the kid stays okay! Shouldn't be too hard, especially not for you.” 

“Terezi,” Aradia looks at the girl questioningly, “if you have your jetpack, why do you need me to fly you over?”

“Because it's fun to make you do all the work! Why else?”

Yep, there was the Terezi you knew, the girl who wants to do some ridiculous shit no matter the situation. She could literally have been stabbed through the gut and need immediate medical attention, and she would still probably stop to take whatever shiny red things she saw, like shoes, or rubies. Aradia laughs a bit, and then she takes off the ground, with Terezi waving back at you. You wave to her until she's gone, disappearing into the middle distance away from the bubbles entirely with one of the few who could travel through that empty space easily. Now here you are, left with the human child.

You look down at the squishy, fleshy… child, that looks back up at you, quiet, just sitting there and watching. They're not doing anything to actively annoy you like wander off, but they're also doing an enormous load of fuck all, with a small dash of nothing. They don't seem to be keen on doing anything here, too deep in their own thoughts to apparently realize that they were just handed off to you while some shit went down. For some inane reason, that pisses you the fuck off. That might have just been because here you are, sitting here with probably the most meaningless job in paradox space besides maybe those useless leprechauns and their jobs, and your moirail and the one excited about death are off doing the actually important, cool shit. Not to mention, this little shit is just staring right through you, apparently freaked out about some bullshit you didn't see. You eventually snap at them, “What the hell's your problem?”

Frisk seems surprised when you speak to them, and they kinda shrink down into their oversized sweater like one of those stupid shelled reptiles, and then just shrug their shoulders. Oh, right. The kid doesn't talk, do they? They just make weird signals with their hands like they're freezing to death. You can't understand what the hell those signals mean, and even then, you don't really care about learning. It wasn't as if many trolls undertook the time and energy needed to learn an essentially dead language. It wasn’t as if any mute or deaf trolls survived for long. So you tell them, “Look, just write what you want to say in the sand, because you could be saying that you have an hour to fucking live and I sure as hell wouldn't know.”

So the human plops down in the sand with a noticeable thud and raises their finger to make indentations in the tan surface of it. You watch as they write out, / _ I saw an alternate me, and they did horrible things./  _

“Really? Thaaaaaaaat's got you spooked? What, did they steal all the candy or some shit-"

They frown and put their hand up in a stop motion. You huff out a breath, but let them finish writing, moving behind them to get a better look at what they were saying. / _ The alternate me killed every single friend and family member I have, and before the skeleton man pushed me here, I was thinking of doing that too./  _ How a kid can keep such a steady hand and fit all that one a small stretch of sand is beyond you, but you guess that's just how things go. That makes more sense, that this apparently murderous version of themselves exists and that they nearly turned into them. Still, not exactly something that ranks high on your list of things to worry about. 

“Well, you didn't kill anyone. Alright? You didn't kill your friends or family, so no worries- that's just another timeline of you. It's not you, and now never will be you.”

They shake their head, looking down at the sand and erasing what they wrote. Then they write, / _ But I have killed people before. Every single run of the Underground, every time I reset, there was always at least one monster I forgot. I'm tired. I was awful, and all because I couldn't be bothered to spare a monster that was killing me a few more times than normal./ _

“Kid, you act as if you're the only person who's ever had to kill anyone trying to come for their throats. It's not aaaaaaaas uncommon as you think. Hell, just look at me!” You say, gesturing to yourself. “I did some pretty shitty things in the past too, and you know what? It doesn't matter anymore, because hey, I made it all right. So what if I killed some people? They didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. They weren't my friends.”

Then you pause, because written in the sand is, / _ I've killed a friend before, too. Have you?/ _

You don't know how exactly you're supposed to answer that, because damn, way to get straight to the heart of it all kid. Sure, you've killed countless trolls and monsters, and not regretted a single death, but those were all for good reasons. You killed the trolls to feed your mother. You killed the monsters to farm grist and get you and everyone else further into the game. But what kind of reason could you give for what you did to Tavros? Aradia? And, god, you fucked over Terezi's life permanently. If she hadn't been taught to smell and taste colors, if she had been seen as even a little helpless, she would have been culled. You didn't even think about that consequence, or the fact that you essentially carried out the plans of some slimy pre-form of the big bad himself. 

Frisk writes in the sand, / _ Before I became friends with Undyne, she would kill me a lot. A whole lot. I didn't know I had to run all the way to Hotland, and after a while, I got so frustrated that I killed her. She was hard to kill, but I did it, and I felt horrible for it. I reset after I saw Dr. Alphys. She was so heartbroken./ _

The kid looks like they're trying to hide themself in a black hole of blue fabric, and eventually you sigh, sitting beside the child. You don't like sitting around like this and feeling sorry for past actions that people have forgiven you for- that's why they’re in the past, after all. Maybe you're just getting soft, spending so much time around the John human and letting the strain of three years ruling and planning and having irons in the fire that you're starting to deflate around the kid. Or there’s always the human disease called friendship. That’s always a possibility.

“Kid, you're not the only one in that boat.” You eventually say, earning the child looking up at you. “I did some real bad shit when I was a kid- a little older than you, I think. But yeah, I hurt a few friends too, pretty much for life, and I couldn't turn back the clock on it. One was paralyzed, another blinded, and a third dead. But, you know what? That shit's happened, but it's passed now. Things happen, and you're gonna do shit that you're not proud of, but ultimately if you just try to do better then it'll end up not mattering, alright? This Undyne character is alive now, right?” They nod, and you continue, “Then maaaaaaaaybe don't get all sad and melancholy over it???????? Just stop thinking about being a murderer, because trust me kid, you sure as hell don't look like one.”

They sit and just stare at you for a moment, and alright, two can play at this game. You both just stare at each other for a few moments, before Frisk turns back to the sand, erasing the previous words and saying, / _ You really, really remind me of Undyne./ _

“Yeah, you said that before. What the hell am I even supposed to make of that, that you keep comparing me to some chick you once killed?”

/ _ That isn't why. You're like Undyne- you did a few bad things, and maybe even killed someone before, but everyone likes you it looks like. You're a heroine that never gives up./ _

You look at the kid for a moment, and debate telling them about how basically everyone has hated you at some point, or how your dancestor ended up being a total whackjob who once screwed everyone over. Hell, you're pretty sure that Karkat still hates your guts for sort of taking over everything from him, and you know for a damn fact that Gamzee hates you for ruining whatever black fling he was trying to start with your moirail. You don't tell them that, though, because they're not trying to hide in any self made void anymore, and instead ask, “What the hell gives you that idea?” They turn to the sand and write,

/ _ I can just feel it. You're a good person. In your soul./ _

Then the kid turns to you, places a hand on your chest, over the Light symbol, and looks up at you. A moment of solidarity passes, an acknowledgement that this entire interaction was some freaky soul searching thing that for some reason has come and gone, and you decide that's enough moping around and being weird. 

You stand up as quickly as possible, watching the human make a sound as you pick them up along with you and hold them up high in the air, making a face at them. “Frisk, you are one weird fucking kid, you know that?” They nod, and you kinda loosen your grip, letting them come closer to your chest so they weren't in danger of falling and breaking their neck. Hey, if you could weather through the weirdness that was John Egbert, that fucking goober, then what was hanging around a human child while shit went down? Besides, Terezi said this job was important, so even if it didn't feel like that at first, you think that maybe you were just a little bit wrong. 

Just a smidge, though, because other than this you're pretty much never wrong in your judgement.

“I think I can get used to that.”

**_= = > Terezi: Get to the main Prospit bubble and make sure that no inane disaster occurs_ **

“So what you're saying is, this murderous kid tried to kill our Frisk?”

Your name is TEREZI PYROPE, and from what Aradia says, what you're about to be doing isn't a job that should be taken lightly. She’s informed you about what happened with Frisk, and while you're a little worried now because Frisk is with Vriska and your moirail can be kind of callous, there's really no time to change it. You need Aradia there, you're sure- some of what you're Seeing isn't anything that should be done alone.

You hang off of her neck as she nods, looking ahead and frowning a bit, the corners of her lips downturning and bringing her bright red lips a bit closer to you. You're pretty fucking horrible at reading facial expressions- unless an emotion is really strong, you can't smell it, and even then you can't smell the minute changes in placement of someone's mouth or eyes unless they're really close to you. It's part of the reason why you're currently letting her do all the work of flying you around right now- an excuse to better see what she's feeling. That, and you can be a lazy ass when it comes to things that seem like a hassle, like sewing the stuffing back into your scalemates. Then Aradia speaks, pulling you out of your thoughts, “That's not quite all. I've been feeling something… off.”

“Off?” You ask, “What the hell do you mean?” This has your attention immediately. After all, if a Time player was saying that something was off about time, then there must have been something really, strangely off. 

“I don't know how to explain it, just yet.” Aradia admits, and your nose registers the faintest hint of golden caramel scent and rich lemony smells, like some of the baked goods that were sometimes alchemized on the meteor by Rose. Prospit is in the distance, smelling just as you remember from when you were a dreamer there on Prospit. “There's just something very off about the bubbles, and I think you will understand when we enter.” For a moment, there's a silence that descends upon you. You hang there for a moment, smelling Prospit slowly coming closer and closer. Then, you decide to see how the paths of fate are doing right then, which path you're going down now and how this timeline will end up. 

There are multiple timelines where things are fucked over, with that kid killing multiple people that you all need alive. There are timelines where Dave comes back, and timelines where he doesn't. But most of all, you can see one timeline, one future where you all will step through your Door and into your new universe. This will eventually come to pass, but there are certain things that you need to do to make sure that it does. The biggest goal at the moment was clear, at the very least- find a way to contact the other Calliope.

You feel a force on your back, a little give before you and Aradia are entering the bubble, and then you're descending upon the ground, feet hitting the cobbles there. That's when you start really feeling it, whatever Aradia had felt. Prospit smells the same- but something else isn't the same. Maybe it's the fact that instead of two towers there, on the moon, there are four. Maybe it's because the streets are unnaturally quiet, and above, the skies hold a few dreamers dreaming. Maybe it's because you can't make out their eyes from the ground, and for once, aren't sure whether or not they're dead and have that faint whiff of decay. But that wouldn't make sense, would it? Living dreamselves are firmly in the past, and if there are dreamers, they have to be dead.

Aradia is floating just above the ground, and she seems to be apprehensive, rotten nerves slightly tainting the bright candy apple scent she carries. Eventually she says, “I have to evacuate the dreamers,” and flies off, taking to the blue skies above. You nod and begin to walk down the empty street, nose raising to the air. Maybe you can sniff out wherever the ghosts of this bubble are and interrogate them, ask them if they know where this kid is. Your nose catches a familiar whiff of blueberry, stronger than the hints that had appeared before in your life due to an alternate version of yourself ordering a human to fix the timeline, but you can recognize that smell. That's the John human, in all his goofy hood-socked glory, wearing the lemon of Prospit. You go after the scent, and then you come across him.

He's… smaller. You don't understand that at all- your John is about the same age as the rest of you, 16 earth years old, so why this sudden change in height? And god, he's scrawny too, you can feel it as you reach out and grab his arm. It feels like he's never lifted a hammer in his life! You know how he is, usually with some good muscle and quite a bit of pudge around the middle. This is different, for some reason. “Hey, nerd, stop for a second, will you? I know we've had our little spats over your dumb hood and stupid face, but some shit's come up. Where'd you find that Prospit garb anyway?” 

Then he turns to you and snatches his arm away, and you smell something sour. Fear. That's the last thing you expect to smell on him, but here is John, smelling alive and fearful, no vague whiff of decay to mark him as a ghost. Then, he talks in a cracking voice, different from what you're used to. “What??? Who the hell are you? Wait, shit,  _ what _ the heck are you?! I thought that Dave said monsters didn't exist!!” It seems almost as if this John doesn't remember you. It seems more like he's never met you. What the fuck?

You look into the future, into the timeline where he comes from, but beyond this dreambubble, there's nothing. This John shouldn't be here- this John is from three years ago, and he's from a timeline where Prospit will be destroyed by Jack with him dying in it. But instead, here he is, a past self in the present, and he isn't even a time player. He shouldn't be here, and that timeline shouldn't be overlapping with this one.

“Okay, shit, now I have to go through this entire spiel again?” Honestly, if you didn't have an entire bubble to evacuate and a kid to kick to the curb, then you would have loved to troll this asshole in real life for the first time. But your little spades are being stilled for the moment, because before you can properly say anything, you hear someone scream. Your head snaps up and your hand tightens around the human's arm. Then, you're off, running towards the sound and dragging a thirteen year old doomed John along for the ride, ignoring his struggling and fright. You're the physically stronger one anyway, so you doubt his scrawny little ass can break away. Shit, you thought you hated his stupid form before, but this is a new level of disgust you feel. You eventually let go of him when the smell of red hits your nose, candy sweet and putrefying. On the ground is someone who smells lemony and green like a garden, and beside the corpse is that very same version, screaming at it in horror, fainting stinking of decay.

Somehow, you came across Jade's dreamself's corpse (another timeline, not yours, not this John's Jade) and the ghost of that Jade. Really, these ghosts made investigation a lot easier, in your opinion. You ignore the faint smell of vomit that John seems to be keen on expelling and go over to the girl, who isn't quite as tall as she will be in three years, and definitely not as broad shouldered. She's done screaming, but by now it looking at you, looking completely lost as she says, “How…?”

“Okay Jade human, listen up,” You say, a frown tugging at your lips. “You need to not flip any shits and fly off the handle. I'm looking for the person who probably just killed you. So what did they look like? Short human kid, blueberry and blackberry striped sweater, murderous screaming heathen of a demon tagging along?” She stares at you stunned as you take your cane out of your strife specibus and tap it on the ground impatiently. She doesn't give you an answer until you say, “Well? Is that them or not?” They nod, and then you turn to where John's currently running off, letting out a breath. Well, fucking rude! You're just trying to figure out what the fuck is going on here, but here this little shit is, running off to maybe find the killer. Or maybe to get away from you, because he thinks you might be a monster. Well, fuck.

You can hear her start to say something, but by this point, you don't really have the fucks to give about this ghost who shouldn't have even known about this bubble until a few years later. You have to find this kid, and fast, before they kill any unlucky living dreamselves that have apparently found themselves here for the time being. How the fuck this is possible is still somewhat of a mystery to you, but that mystery will have to be solved later on, when you aren't having to deal with a threat that could potentially fuck up the timeline if allowed to continue rampaging here. Finding that John would definitely be a start, just to make sure that it was possible that he could help. Vriska has told you about how he could do that windy shit before, right? 

You turn on your heel and move in the direction the John went, catching faint whiffs of his natural blueberry scent along the way, leading you on. You keep running, even as things become quieter, nearly deathly so, as dreamers are taken from the skies and taken from the bubble by a candy apple scented fairy up above. Then, you can make out his form, nearly missing it because shit, his clothes smell like everything else on Prospit. If not for the blueberry scent, you might have missed him. You call out to him from afar, “Hey, dipshit! John! I'm not here to hurt you or whatever you seem to think! I'm a friend!”

He turns, you think, or maybe you feel another set of eyes on you. He asks, all confusion and shock and leftover adrenaline, “What? You… know my name?” You nod, affirming for the dunkass that you do in fact know his name, and you wonder how his timeline was different, to have caused his first reaction to be blind running and fear. He hadn't struck you as the type, even as a kid. Maybe it's because he doesn't know much about this dream world.

Then, there's the scent of red and blue and purple, and you recognize that smell, even though you don't recognize the smell of the rotten being tagging along behind them, smelling like rotting lemon and lime candies. That's a Frisk, but they're moving fast, and you aren't even anywhere near John, so your first instinct as you start to run towards him is to yell out the warning of, “Behind you!” 

It's too late. By the time time you reach him, he's a corpse on the ground, and the smell of cherry red nearly chokes the smell of blueberries. 

You look up at the other Frisk, eyes narrowing in a completely instinctual gesture. You can't see them, but you can sure as hell smell them, and they stare back at you, knife raised and the scent of red growing stronger on their person. You grin, despite yourself, in this golden place, and you think this might mirror somewhere for them. Your cane is separated into the dual swords you normally fight with and you look down at them, smelling something green and flashing on their wrist. That's the point to aim for. “Well kid, you're gonna be causing us a lot of problems in the future, and it doesn’t look like you want to stop. I guess my question to you is this-

“ _ Do you wanna have a bad time?” _

They start to laugh at your words, and you can smell their ego from here. You scrunch up your nose at the smell, commenting, “What's with you, anyway? That ego is starting to stink up the place, and I don't think I've ever had to say that about somewhere with corpses on the ground.” They stop laughing, and then the red and blue scent of John is out of your center sense of smell, kicked off to the side somewhere. They really mean business, brandishing that strange red knife. “Well, if you're gonna be like that, guess I don't have a choice. I'm gonna send your ass back to those dinky bubbles of yours now.”

They scoff, and then like that, they're already lunging towards you, slashing with their knife. You don't just dodge- you parry with one of your own, and then kick up at the smaller form with your knee. If this kid wasn't a murderous little shit, you might have felt bad for the beating you're about to lay down on them.

You don't have the time to be remorseful about bringing someone to justice though, not when this was so important. You can feel it- this human is a fucking danger, a menace, and it's easy to forget that, since they're so young. You can't forget that, though, not now, not when you have this feeling in your very soul that you just have to win against this little shit and take them out of this place prematurely.

Now, the real battle can finally

**_= = > SANS: Go troll this kid._ **

_ hey uh, really flattered that you want to be me, but don't you have another thing to be watching right now? some other epic showdown in a golden place with some skilled fighters or....?  _

_ well, alright. if you want to go ahead and be me, who am i to stop you. don't do anything i wouldn't do. _

Your name is Sans. Sans the Skeleton. It's a pretty well known fact who you are- with how the Underground is, most people know each other and that means they especially know you. It's just that knowing everyone also had the repercussions of knowing who died.

Now, you're not really here to judge- you mostly watch over the kid and make sure they're not a danger to themselves, and most timelines, Frisk or Chara or Hope or Mercy or whatever their name is on that particular reset tend to be pretty harmless. At most, they killed a Froggit or Icecap while defending themselves, which really, wasn't a crime. It was a bit sad to see their families afterwards, but all in all, the kid who came down was usually pretty alright. That's why when you wake up to yet another reset, you aren't as worried as other times, near the beginning, when you had all those nightmares.

Best not to think about that.

You're out in Snowdin Forest now, though, near the door where the human normally comes through, and you know just what to look for. Your notes help you on that front, detailing anything about the runs before so that you can remember some things that aren't really clear. Hey, even as someone aware as you of time, some things are just lost over so many resets. What isn't lost though, is your entire script, the whole song and dance you do that normally entertains the kids that come. 

You glance over the door from your spot in the trees, and then lo and behold, the door is sliding open, just a few minutes late. Oh well, that's liable to happen sometimes. Not every reset sees the human child having as impeccable timing as you. Then, you're absolutely caught off guard when suddenly, there's a child walking out. They definitely aren't what you were expecting.

Here you expected blue and purple, but instead you're greeted with a red striped sweater and long red pants, completely different. The kid is blond, with shades on his face and a ribbon in his hair, which you didn't actually think was possible before because from what it seemed, the human was only able to equip one item at a time. That has to be a sign of something, and you have a small feeling you know what, but you don't dwell on it. You're not here to judge yet.

The kid shivers, opens his mouth, and then speaks, “God fucking dammit it's freezing down here, how the hell does an Underground place have it's own weather system, jesus Christ.” That catches you off guard even more, because the human before had been mute, and used sign language. You remember three of the previous humans who were the same way, who didn't say a single word, and this little blond human reminds you of the one with the violet soul and bad eyesight. That's weird, but at the same time…

Well, it's a pretty welcome change, actually. Finally, after so many resets, you're seeing something new, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Now, there's really one logical course of action, you think to yourself as you watch the human walk down the snowy path, the kid who you’re about  _ tibia _ little shit to.

Time to troll the shit out of this human.


	7. Part 6: An Unreasonable Amount of Meta Jokes and Playing with Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for the really long wait!! Things are getting a little hectic in my life, with AP classes and senior year kicking me to the curb, but I figured I'd have this out to you really quick!! I also hope that I've improved my characters a little bit, especially my Dave! I hope to try and get chapters out at least on a monthly basis, though I'll try to update more often than that! Thank you for your patience, and here's the chapter we've all been waiting for

**_= = > DAVE: See what the fuck is _ ** **_behind you_ **

Wait, what?

Your name is Dave, and apparently, you’re not as alone on this ominous snowy path as you thought. Because of course the next thing on the list in a cave full of monsters is a dark, freezing forest with the maximum amount of jumpscares probably waiting for you to step five inches to the left so they can spring some shitty looking ‘scary’ face on you. If this place decides to get really creepypasta on you, maybe that face will be full of hyper realistic blood and it’ll be a pokemon because somehow you got sucked into some kind of old retro game with graphics that wouldn’t be out of place on an especially shitty Gameboy. But hell, what were the chances of that happening? 

You are momentarily distracted from your thought process (which may or may not be bordering on the ironically meta) with the sound of a snap. You turn, and right where there was a pretty sturdy trunk that you’d had to step over, there are two splintered, shitty pieces of wood that wouldn’t even be used in Harry Potter as a wand. Tropes of this scenario generally go that there’s some kind of monster in the woods, and if you go back to investigate, you’ll get your insides eaten. Normally, you’d roll your eyes at such a trope, but this place is literally full of monsters.Sure, the ones in the Ruins may have been all fluff and powdered sugar, but all bets are off for the rest of King Asshole’s domain.

Yeah, there’s no way in all the seven circles of hell residing in Satan’s asscrack that you’re going to fall for that particular trope, so instead of going back to check like some chump, you turn back around and start marching straight ahead again. You’re not going to diverge from this path, even with the ominous looking… gate? Yeah, there’s a gate up ahead, or at least some kind of shitty visitor portal to Merry Cringlefucking Funland or whatever. There’s a gate, and a bridge, and you almost expect this to go full Dora the Explorer and send out a grumpy yellow creature to ask you some unbearably easy riddle to gain passage to wherever this path ended up leading. After all, a cave could only go so far. The place has to end somewhere.

It’s really fucking cold though, so you really hope that you find shelter soon. This kind of shit goes beyond Jack Frost nipping at your nose- this has gotten to the point where Jack Frost is in the process of trying to push your soul out of your body so that he can replace all your bones with ice. Fucking asshole, being rude as shit to some random eight year old in the middle of a deep, dark forest. 

You’re coming upon the bridge now, way too aware of your surroundings when you hear footsteps. You don’t want to admit it, but for a moment, you just freeze up, sword clenched tight in hand. You can’t help it- you’re in a dark forest, with no way to really see much beyond the path ahead and stuck in the body of an eight year old who’s too severely malnourished to even possess the little strength that a healthy kid should have. It also really doesn’t help your nerves when you hear a kind of gravelly voice behind you say, “ _... Human… _ ” right in your fucking ear what the fuck they were feet behind you before, “ _ Don’t you know how to greet a new pal? _ ” You swallow thickly, stopping your lost cool from seeping out into its natural habitat so that you can handle this. It’s just a monster. You’ve literally gone head to head with a universe destroying hell demon. You can handle this, even if you are technically way too young to be dealing with that kind of shit.

_ “Turn around and s h a k e my hand. _ ”

You aren’t even sure how you could hear the enunciation of every letter in ‘shake’, but you do, and it’s a bit disconcerting. If you just keep going, at best you’ll be let go and considered rude, at worst you’ll be attacked. And since you’re pretty sure that you won’t be needing your sword for this just yet, you figure that you can humor the monster and hope they aren’t some child murderer that you need to fight. You turn around, and standing at about six inches taller than you is a real, honest to fucking god skeleton. Not just a funny looking bird bug or talking vegetable- this is a mostly anatomically correct human skeleton. If there wasn’t a wide grin that etched into the skeleton’s face, it would have looked like a regular guy had just rolled out of his grave to stretch and take a stroll through his afterlife. Okay, that smile is honestly all hells of disconcerting.

One bony hand is outstretched towards you, phalanges wiggling almost invitingly. Now, you like dead shit- fuck, fossils and bones are your jam, butter, and English breakfast- but the human resemblance is going to take some getting used to. You figure that you’ve kept this guy hanging long enough with your stupid personal hang ups, so you blindly reach your left hand out and shake so that shit doesn’t go belly up if he thinks you’re stalling. 

You would have focused on how  _ cold _ they were if not for the gross  **_ppfffbbbttttt_ ** that followed you shaking. For a moment, you wonder,  _ wait what the hell _ before it hits you that you’ve just been punked by this skeleton. You feel like you’ve been cheated. Bamboozled. Here you thought that you might end up unwittingly making a deal with death, and instead you’ve been pranked. Holy fuck this is literally so stupid, no matter how relieving it kind of is.

“Heheh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. Never gets old.” The skeleton… seems to laugh? It’s really fucking hard to tell with that smile, so he could be laughing, or he could just be shaking his shoulders because you’re both standing in the kind of cold that gets deep in your bones. Speaking of bones.

“I dunno man,” You say, schooling your face even as you pull your hand back like it’s been soiled. It’s touched something unclean. Time to bust out the holy water to go wash the hand that’s been tricked by a bag of wind. How would a skeleton have the lungs to blow air to inflate a whooppee cushion anyway? You suddenly don’t care about the logistics of this shit. “I have a friend who would pull this kind of bullfuckery all the time. It seemed pretty  _ bare bones _ to me.”

You think that maybe the skeleton tries to raise an eyebrow, but can’t tell because he’s literally a fucking skeleton and has none to wave nor wiggle. “Huh. Well, I’d say that I was sorry for stealin’ this guy’s act,” The monster says, sounding amused but looking just the same because he hasn’t moved anything but his weird glowing white pupils, “but great minds think alike, y’know. I don’t got a  _ bone to pick _ with some guy I only just now heard about. I am pretty interested in talkin’ to you, though- you’re the first human I’ve had in awhile who’s actually talked to me.” Whether because they were mute, like Chara said, or just because they got scared off by the lackluster comedy is anyone’s guess, really. Hell if you know what went down. Speaking of Chara though, where did they fuck off to?

Ah, whatever. Either they’ll turn up or that was like a tutorial and you’ll never have to see the brat as a guide. Fucking rude though- they never even said goodbye. 

“The name’s Sans. Sans the skeleton.” You suddenly have the strangest feeling that this guy would like, talk in Comic Sans. He seems like the type of guy to talk in an ugly, distractingly dumb font to hide something insidious, like those overzealous religious groups that have no fucking clue what something being aesthetically pleasing means and just want to get their message out in a way they think will appeal to the youth. The grin this guy has just kind of cements that. You doubt that he’s like, a bible thumping Southern mother in disguise, but it does make you wonder.

“Well, I’m Dave. Dave the human.” You introduce yourself, just narrowly resisting the urge for a Bond reference. You may be like eight now, but you’re not about to use an overused joke that’s long lost any sort of hilarity. It wouldn’t even have been funny in an ironic sense, no matter how far removed from the joke you were in saying it, so it seems that the real ironic joke here is that you’re even thinking about it.

“Well, nice to meetcha, Dave the human. That’s pretty lucky, actually- I’m actually supposed to be on watch for those.” He says offhandedly. If he shows any signs of distaste, you can’t tell. It’s hard to tell  _ when his mouth never fucking moves _ . “See, I’m a sentry out here. I’m supposed to go capture you and junk, but nah. I don’t feel like capturin’ anybody. Takes some real effort, y’know?” Of course you know. Doing shit takes work, even if things are constantly happening and won’t stop happening any time soon. You figure that on some level, this skeleton is relatable, if only because you can understand not wanting to do the work for some menial shit, even if you don’t have the luxury of classifying shit as ‘menial’ with the big game bullshit that’s been following you for three years. “Now my brother, Papyrus- he’s a human hunting fanatic.”

“A human hunting fanatic, huh? Didn’t think that this place had its version of bigfoot hunters.” You say, thoughts tumbling out of your mouth with pretty much no filter, just like always. “But then again I guess it makes sense, since it’s not like you guys get many humans tumbling ass first down the hole here, right? It’s just-” You have this great metaphor planned out about Steve Irwin and the History channel but the skeleton completely steamrolls over your incoming flood of speech. Fucking rude, you think.

“Not to be rude to your big bigfoot hunting speech or anythin’, but I think that’s my brother right now.” Sans says, and okay that’s actually a fairly important reason for completely flattening the words in your throat and sending them back down to your gut from whence they came, so you look at the road ahead. “Just go through this gate thingy. My bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone..” Oh, so this was some other monster’s work trying to keep humans out? How would that be conducive to capturing them?

Whatever the case, you can’t question, because quick as a flash you’re being ushered across the bridge by a bony elbow ribbing you along and pointing towards a lamp which was strangely shaped like a regular sized, slightly chubby eight year old child. What a convenient goddamn lamp. “Quick- behind that conveniently shaped lamp.” You end up standing behind it, more or less disappearing because you’re apparently shorter and definitely much, much skinnier than the child it was meant for. You would say almost skeletal, but now you’ve actually seen what a skeleton looks like and you’re not about to make the mistake of punning twice. Your sweater kind of sags a little bit downwards, hanging slightly off your frame and peeking out, and you can only hope that whoever’s coming doesn’t have any mythical sense of sight. 

You peek out and see Sans standing there, hands in his pockets, just generally looking chill in hideous pink crocs that you know Terezi would be all over in an instant. She loves those damn things, and even has a pair of her own. Well, multiple pairs of her own. Kanaya’s been adamant that she has no idea where her crocs keep disappearing off to, but you all know that she’s lying through her sharp as a fucking razor teeth. You all know the truth.

Man, it felt just like yesterday that you were just on the meteor and also weren’t eight fucking years old.

But that was before. Now the game is over and you’re fucking eight years old, peeking out from behind a conveniently shaped lamp in a snowy forest where the rapidfire footsteps of another monster are crunching through the snow at breakneck speed. This ends with another almost-but-not-quite anatomically correct skeleton in the stupidest Hero! Skeletor costume that you have ever laid your eyes on showing himself. At the very least, though, he doesn’t seem to have a grin etched into his face, and the skull is completely correct and moves with some clattering of the jaw. Sans brings up a hand and says, “Sup?”

“YOU KNOW WHAT ‘SUP’, BROTHER!” If you weren’t already used to loud voices, you might have covered up your ears. You have a feeling that they’re going to be aching by the end of this. “IT’S BEEN THREE DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T! RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES!” He wags one red gloved finger and despite yourself you have to keep down a snort. The dude looks utterly ridiculous in the first place- looking like a scolding mother is just the icing on the cake. “YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!?”

“Staring at this lamp.” That skeletal fucker gives you a real sly look. “It’s really cool. Wanna have a look?”

“NO!!! I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A  **HUMAN** COMES THROUGH HERE??” Skeletal Fucker 2.0: The Explosive Edition yells the word human louder, as if it’ll act like some Beetlejuice shit and make you come out. “I WANT TO BE READY!! I WANT TO BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I MUST CAPTURE A HUMAN!! THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS… WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE!” He says some more stuff after that about his reasonings for wanting to capture a human like yourself, and you listen to them. They’re pretty vain, but hey, vanity ain’t a crime, and neither was self-confidence, no matter how much it bordered on complete narcissism or no matter how much he kind of didn’t seem to understand how friendship worked. But you’re also slightly distracted by one little thing- how the fuck is his scarf billowing in the wind? 

There’s literally no wind. It’s stiller than a lake in the dead of a freezing cave, frozen over completely, and yet there that scarf goes trying to find its own adventure. You think there’s a slight orange glow around it, but that could be your eyes fucking with you.

You’re pulled from your contemplating when you hear Sans speak again. Or rather, when you hear the signature  _ badum-tssh _ that’s only supposed to accompany jokes of actual substance and  _ not _ shitty puns. Where the  _ fuck _ is that coming from, and why the fuck is Sans looking out into the forest as if some invisible audience is doing anything other than reaching into their coolers for only the freshest rotten produce? Just what is with this guy and his unending grin?

_ Meanwhile, here I rest my old bones, tryin’ to tell some killer jokes. Not everyone appreciates it, sure, but that’s my cross to bear. Don’t you worry, kiddos- you still have a few killer jokes to sit through. _

You listen to the rest of this strange conversation as if some meta bullshit didn’t also just happen. You don’t know  _ what _ meta bullshit happened, but it sure did happen, and you’re not about to dwell on that for too long. There’s another shitty pun,

_ See? No appreciation, I tell ya. _

and some other bullshit meta thing that you think you’re fairly sure happened, but you can’t prove it, so it just adds another tier of irony to whatever meta joke may or may not actually exist, and Papyrus embodies yourself and probably whatever invisible audience by saying, “UGH!! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES… AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE… ‘’’’’BACKBONE’’’’’ INTO IT!” And then the taller skeleton fucks off laughing like some green alien from a television show that doesn’t exist yet, and now never will because this is a completely different earth and who knows what they have.

“Okay, you can come out now.” Sans tells you, and you come out from where you’d just listened to the most batshit conversation between siblings you think you’ve ever heard. To be fair, your own sibling tends to psychoanalyze the fuck out of you and your Bro probably shouldn’t have even been considered family after everything that he’s done to fuck you up, so you probably can’t tell what a proper conversation to have between siblings in the first place is, but even then this was all just silly.

“Jesus fucking Christmas up with a nail gun, that’s the guy I’m supposed to be afraid of?” You gesture in the direction where the other skeleton went, and Sans just shrugs. You can’t actually be scared of this guy. He apparently doesn’t even know what Lord Batshit does with the humans that come, and for whatever reason, Sans ain’t telling him. He just wants to go be a hero and impress people enough so that they actually stick around and not ditch him whenever he isn’t being cool and wow fuck the reality of that just strikes a sudden chord in you. 

You proceed to ignore the strumming of that chord and instead let Sans go on. “I mean, if you wanna be scared of him, go ahead. It’s a free Underground, so I don’t dictate who you do and who you don’t fear here. But now that you mention it… I do got a favor to ask of ya.” He bends a little to be a little more down to your level, and says, “See, my lil’ bro’s been down in the dumps lately. He’s never seen a human before, so seein’ you might make his day. You know he’s not dangerous, so you know. Just do you.” He straightens up and then turns, back in the direction of the gate. “Thanks a million. I’ll be up ahead.” 

And before you can even question him for his motives on this favor, since even as harmless as Papyrus seems he still wants to  _ capture _ you, he fucks right off the way he came. Shit, he didn’t even give you a chance to speak. Fucking rude. It’s almost as if he knew that you might have, and then fucked off before he could be questioned too in depth about it. But, fuck, what are the chances of that? 

Whatever the case, all you can do for a moment is look at his retreating back and think,  _ what a weird fucking skeleton. _

At the very least now you can go on your leisurely way without needing to worry about any tiring battles or death. Time for all the light hearted adventurous shit that you and your eight year old body were meant to have in the first place. This shit is about to get all hells of fluffy

**_= = > TEREZI: Dunk on this murderous brat._ **

Fucking finally. It’s felt like literal months since you last had to think this thought, but now the real battle can finally begin. Or maybe not- depends if all the bad vibes you’re getting from this shit are from them in the present or all the possibilities in the future of what they’ll become.

You smell the human picking themself up off the ground, slowly, as if they’re already nursing a bruise. “Oh come oooon!” You call to them, a grin spreading on your face despite yourself. It’s a precarious fucking situation you’re in, and one wrong move could doom your particular timeline if you’re not wrong about this kid, but it’s easier to grin and bear through it than to silently brood and whine like a wriggler! You don’t get the luxury of complaining. This isn’t junior FLARP in the sandbox anymore- it’s time to get this shit over with and tear that fabric from their wrist. You still stand back just a bit, though. This could be some kind of trap that they’re trying to spring on you, or they could be waiting for an opening to stab you through like a spit roasted oinkbeast by acting weak.

That’s when you realize that you can smell something else. There was something other than the red with the human, something that smells faintly of flowers and something so rancid that you can taste it in the air. It’s an oily taste that makes you wrinkle your nose, and you feel the faintest grasp of hands trying to wrap around your neck. There’s someone else there, someone that should have been able to be just real enough to choke the living fuck out of you, but instead you just smell the faint rose to their cheeks and cackle. Whatever the kid’s trying to do here isn’t working, and you pass straight through the ghostly fuck to come at the human.

The human dodges out of the way of one sword, and you and hear the heavy footfall of their left foot, then the right as they try to regain balance. Which is really fucking weird, you think, because just a few seconds ago they were light as hell on their feet and seemed to have been at least halfway decent at landing the right way! You’d think that this was just them being intimidated, if not for the fact that the smell of flowers is now being tinged with red and charging straight at you, smelling a lot more solid.

You duck in the nick of time as a relatively small arm whizzes over your horns, the swish of air left behind by them ghosting over the mostly numb points of chitin. You’re really not entirely sure what the fuck just happened, because whoever that was was just incorporeal a few moments ago, but you don’t have the time to question it or look through every possibility. You have a fight to win! 

Meaning that you need to watch out for brat number two, because the last thing you need is to be overpowered by two little shits separating from their ugly, dusty trenchcoat. It’s a damn good thing you have double the swords to handle little shits just like these!

Gripping the handle of your swords tightly in your clawed fingers, you dodge out the way of another nearly halfhearted attempt at a strike and smash the head of the metal dragon into the brat’s forehead. You’re like, three sweeps older than them, so it’s not as if this is the most difficult fight in the world, but at the same time it would be nice if they would just stay still for a few fucking seconds so you could grab that damn overcoat scrap!

“Come on kid, didn’t your human parents ever tell you it’s fucking rude to throw yourself at strangers, or did they just not give enough of a shit about you to teach you some common decency?” It could have just as easily been an ego trip, or a mix of all of the above, and you grab the arm of the oily brat who keeps trying to choke the life out of you. Then you don’t have any sort of grip on them at all, because they aren’t able to be touched anymore. You can hear the quiet pants of a child as they hold the knife in their hands, probably trying to decide where on your person they want to take a stab at next, and you smell their salty sweat. Already? This hasn’t even been that long of a fight! Maybe this murderous brat doesn’t have nearly the amount of training that they need to be able to beat you. Shit, and you thought that as they were they were really dangerous!

You almost want to laugh at your past self, but you can’t because you know how sometimes little things like this can spiral out of control into an entire detrimental pile of shit that’ll bite you in the ass later. Better not to take any chances.

You take this moment where they seem to be recharging their batteries from helping their demon killing buddy out to knock the damn knife out of their hands, reaching down in one swift movement to rip the piece of lime green fabric off their wrist. They make a downright guttural fucking sound as they recoil, moving along the ground towards the metallic smelling weapon. It’s gone in seconds, the strange cherry dusted metal scent disappearing up in smoke in an instant. Then the scents of those two bodies start to fade, probably being thrown back into bubbles that shouldn’t even fucking exist because these two definitely aren’t dreamers. These two and that Frisk wriggler aren’t from these sessions, at least. 

What the hell is with that? You think that should probably be another thing to take into account, the fact that these dreambubbles have popped up only for these two entities in particular and no one else. Jesus fuck, whatever the case may be with that, you’re glad that this silly little catfight is over. Shit, how could any of that little scuffle been considered cool or heroic? You were trading blows with some kid who doesn’t even measure up to your skills! It’s wriggler’s play, for now at least.   
All you can do is figure things out before those two start getting strong enough to pose a really dangerous threat to everyone.

The only thing you’re left with are way too many questions and the corpse of a dreamer who should have been dead long ago, ghost probably already fucked off to wherever it was that this version of John wanted to fuck off to to deny to himself the fact of his own afterlife. You’re going to need to confer with everyone, but first, you need to find Aradia and have her fly you the fuck out of dodge. You’ve got questions, sure, but you’ve also got a kid to make sure is still alive. Hell, they’ve been in the company of your Scourge Sister for more than five minutes- it’ll be a fucking miracle to see them both relatively unscathed, mentally and physically!

Right on cue, Aradia begins to descend from the sky above. You wouldn’t expect anything less from a Time player, especially one as invested in making sure that the flow of time is kept intact as much as your own Maid! Her sugary pixie dust descends and you call up to her, “Hey Megido! You could’ve come sooner, you know that? I’ve been waiting here for  _ hours _ for your fairy ass to get down here!” In reality, you’ve been waiting for the low low time frame of like five minutes, but even now with the weight of all this bullshit bearing down on you, you figure that you may as well do your level best to be the troll you were born to be. She laughs a little, rolling her eyes, and lands.

“All the Prospit Dreamers have been evacuated, and you wouldn’t believe how many of them were still living! A few of them even disappeared just as soon as I brought them to the barrier of this bubble.” She gestures up towards the sky, you think. Or she could be gesturing towards that building, or the giant golden chain, or… Oh whatever, there’s some important shit going down that you have to attend to. 

“That’s really fucking weird.” You say, because it is and you may as well remind her of that just in case she forgot how weird that was in the last five seconds, “But get this- I got this scrap from the brat, and they disappeared. Probably went back to their bubble with that ghost tagalong they have. Whatever the case, there is some serious shit going on here that we need to tell the others about as soon as we wake up again.” That’s something that she can agree with, and she bends her knees a little so that you can reach your bony arms around her neck. 

Aradia’s fucking tall, and that’s literally no fucking fair. Sure, literally everyone else is taller than you at this point, but even then it’s not your fault that you’re a bony little goblin! It’s everyone else’s for getting the good genetics. Actually, it’s just Karkat’s then for probably fucking you over as a wriggler. You should really talk to him about that, at length, in great detail.

Once you’re hanging off of her, you lift off the ground, and you can smell her smiling as she finally starts out of the bubble. Despite everything though, there’s still the clawing at your gut. As you hold on tightly to the piece of the Cairo Overcoat that Lord English once wore, you can’t help but feel as if there are way too many pieces of this bullshit puzzle to get any clear picture from, even if they were to somehow get 99% of them.

You decide that there can’t be anything that can distract you from the shit show that’s probably just about to unfold.

_**= = > **_ _ **ARADIA**_ : ** _Watch Terezi be distracted by something._**

To be fair, you can’t exactly blame her for getting distracted, because the sight is just strange! 

Your name is ARADIA. You recently touched down in the dreambubble where you and Terezi had both (perhaps irresponsibly) left Vriska in charge of the human wriggler, and now you’re hiding behind a nearby formation of rocks, in absolute awe of the scene.

Because there’s Vriska Serket, the professed leader of operations against Lord English, the slightly self absorbed, no childish bullshit troll, playing pirates with the human.

There’s the steady sound of Terezi sniffing beside you, along with the harsh whisper of, “What’s she doing?! C’mon Aradia, I can’t smell them well enough from here!” You watch as the Frisk human holds their stick out as if it were the mightiest of swords, and Vriska has her actual sword out (you feel like that might be mildly dangerous, but have no idea why). The human doesn’t seem phased by it, and you can hear Vriska telling the human how best to hold up the crew of a rival ship, probably with experiences from their FLARPing days to back her up. Man, those were some good times! Sure you died, but those things were meant to happen, and you don’t mind anymore.

“Okay, look- you caaaaaaan’t be gentle with this shit. You gotta stand firm! Don’t take no for an answer!!!!!!!! You’re taking this shit, so they can fuck off or get the end of a blade!” Then Frisk pokes Vriska with their stick. She looks down at them blankly for a moment, shaking her head. “What? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? C’moooooooon, we’ve already established that I don’t know any of your human hand language! Stop the charades bit and write me what you gotta tell me!” Frisk shrugs their shoulders and writes something in the sand. “Hell yeah, that’s what I’m talking about! Now come on, tell me what you want to steal.”

You’re beginning to question whether or not you should be concerned about what kind of influence this could have on the child. Was it the best idea to just leave them with Vriska? Maybe not. Then, you grin, because as Frisk writes something else you watch Vriska’s face go from a wide, fanged grin to a look of vague horror. You relay this look to Terezi, and when Vriska says, “What the hell do you mean by that?! Jesus fuck kid, I’m like, twiiiiiiiice your age!!!!!!!!” it’s all you can do to not snort.

Frisk shrugs again and writes. Vriska looks over it again and squints, asking, “Alright, what on me are you steal...” Then she’s cut off when the child immediately begins to climb her. She stands still, sword raised slightly and frame tense, and you tell Terezi in a shaky voice filled with suppressed giggles that Frisk is now on Vriska’s shoulders, holding onto her horns tightly and pointing ahead. “... ing.”

Vriska sighs, long, loud, and melodramatic, three words that describe her entire personality in an instant. “Alright, fiiiiiiiine, have it your way…….. But don’t complain if I’m too much for you!” And then Vriska actually captulogues her sword and held onto the human’s legs, presumably to keep them from falling, before running full speed ahead. You have to wonder what kind of thought process Vriska must have gone through to allow herself the moment to just do this, and have a little moment of silly, unbridled fun.

Then you don’t wonder that because you and Terezi are absolutely crying with laughter. It just seems so out of character, so goddamn unexpected that, after all the strange chaos you’ve seen, it’s somewhat of a relief. Although the chaos didn’t quite affect you as much as it did Terezi, it was still something that was mildly unsettling, as things that fly in the face of all known laws often are. Even when Vriska stops abruptly, leaving the child on her shoulders practically drowning in peals of breathy laughter, you and Terezi can’t help but fall against each other to the edge of the rock, falling onto the sand. You’ve been caught- there’s no reason to hide it.

Vriska goes absolutely blue in the face, caught in the one position that she probably didn’t want to be caught in, and Frisk hugs her around the horns in an endearing way. As quickly as she can, she grabs onto Frisk’s waist and pulls them off of their person, holding them away from herself as if they were the most repulsive thing in paradox space. Frisk is still smiling wide though, and you bet that they know just as much as you and Terezi now do. There was no hiding that kind of quick companionship.

You calm down after a while, standing up and dusting the sand off your clothes. There’s still a wide grin on your face. You can’t remember a day when you haven’t grinned at least once since you became God Tier. Being an emotionless ghost and then an exceedingly angry robot certainly did things to brighten up your perspectives of life now that you’re alive again! You reach out for the child, pulling them into your arms. “Thanks for watching over them, Vriska!”

“Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah, well, it was inconvenient as shit,” Vriska says, crossing her arms over her chest a bit while her cheeks still flash somewhat blue. “But at least it’s over now.”

“Well I mean,” Terezi says as she comes up behind Vriska, slinging her arms around the other petite girl’s shoulders. “the grubsitting’s over, but now it’s time to talk about all the things that we both missed out on! Hehehehehehehehe, I think that we’re going to have a lot to talk about, Scourge Sister, now that we’ll be alone! You can explain more about your newfound friendship of the human wriggler!” Vriska looks at you in alarm, and your smile widens as you float a few inches above the ground. 

Frisk waves back at them, and you say with humor bleeding into your tone, “I’ll see you later, Vriska!” And with that you fly away, leaving her to try and explain the cause of her suddenly gentle behavior all on her lonesome to Terezi, who you have the feeling will be hounding her like a barkfiend.

In your arms, Frisk shifts, leaning against you a bit. They’re smiling, which is much different from the quivering lump you’d saved earlier. You quite like this better, though, and you ask, “Did being with Vriska help?” You can’t exactly fathom why being around  _ Vriska _ would help, since she doesn’t have exactly the best track record with comforting people, but when they nod you have to laugh. 

Then, it dies down. There’s still one hell of a mystery to solve, and you had originally saved the child so that you could bring them to Roxy and Calliope. You would have to talk at length about what to do with this wriggler in your arms, and then about the dreambubbles and the timeline anomaly that you’d just witnessed. So much to do, but time’s not an issue. You happen to be Made of Time, after all!

“Alright! Now, let’s get things back on track, shall we?”


	8. Part 7: Some Character Development (to Masquerade the Filler)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!! Sorry it took so long to update but you know how life is haha, always kicking humanity's asses to the curb on a regular basis lmao. But I hope y'all enjoy this chapter, and hopefully December will let me update a little more regularly!!
> 
> Also, bonus: take a shot of apple cider for every bone pun you see.

**_= = > VRISKA: Deal with your overly nosy moirail_ **

“So Vriska, mind telling me what possessed you while taking care of the wriggler?” 

Your name is VRISKA, and looking to see your moirail’s wide, sharp toothed grin, you think that you maaaaaaaay have just made a mistake. Or at the very least, you made it way too easy to be caught in that embarrassing little display of yours.

You love Terezi- you’ve gone through an entire game with her, planned that attack at the end of everything, spent literal hours with her for company, insert other overly sentimental sappy shit here, rinse and repeat. She’s been there, for the most part, and in retrospect you should have known that this was the shit that was going to follow you. Fuck! It shouldn’t have even been that big of a deal. You were just teaching the wriggler the basics of good privateering, is all, and besides even if you WERE playing like a two sweep old with a plastic teething nub (which you weren’t!!!!!!!!), who cares? You' re reformed now, after all. Led the armies, got the good guy badge, the whole eight yards. This is normal for reformed newly dubbed goody two shoes, making sure that kids aren't screaming messes.

But you know Terezi, and if there’s one thing she can’t resist, it’s fucking with people. To be fair, you love joining in on that too, but only when it isn’t  _ you _ . Other people are totally fair game, and the last thing you need is more meddling and fussing and sticking her pointy nose in things. “I mean, I thought you were like, dead or something at first! Like maybe I accidentally misplaced the alpha you! But no, there you were, playing pirates with a human wriggler! And you two were being so cute, too, running around like that! Come on, tell me what you were thinking of! Does the human have some powers or something that we don’t know about?”

“It was a lapse in judgement!” You claim, crossing your arms over your chest. “The kid wanted to know more about being a pirate, because we were talking about my ancestor. You knoooooooow the drill! They wanted to know what it took to be a real pirate, so I was just showing them! I didn’t have any extra swords to give them, but I would have!” You mean that. The kid’s old enough to hold an actual sword as opposed to some silly useless stick. Then again, the humans might freak out over that- they're some fragile fucks, that's for sure. Most aren't even trained at young ages to fend for themselves, and they don't even feed their man-lusii. “Besides, don’t we have some other, more important shit to talk about????????”

“That can wait! I wanna get this talk going while the memory’s still fresh!” You wonder briefly what happened to make her want to deal with this silly shit before anything else that might have happened, but then she persists in her interrogation. “Come oooooooon, Vriska!” Terezi says, leaning onto you with all her weight. She’s bony as a cluckfowl plucked of all it's metal feathers, and only a few inches shorter than you, but she’s still somehow heavy as hell. You'll never get how your sharp angled gremlin of a moirail could end up this compact. “Tell meeeeeeee! See, I’m using eights for every sentence like a total tooooooool! You haaaaaaaave toooooooo teeeeeeeell meeeeeee!”

“You sound melodramatic as fuck,” You say, as if you don’t sound the exact same way on a regular basis. You immediately move out of the way as quickly as possible, leaving Terezi to teeter off balance. Before she can hit the ground, she fucking grabs your shirt and pulls you down with her, leaving you to curse because as soon as she gets the chance she digs her bony ass elbows into your side. “Oh, come the fuck on!!!!!!!! There’s nothing more to say, so let me goooooooo!” She’s cackling in your ears, snapping her jaws as if she’s trying to nip at them. She probably is, the little shit. Trying to receive affection from Terezi is like getting it from a deranged lizard, with way too much teeth and tongues involved, and it doesn't help when she scrambles on top of you and lays herself over you.

“No way, Serket! I got you right where I want you, and now you have no choice! Stop acting so embarrassed and tell me everything- I wanna know all the times you carted the kid around!” 

You squirm underneath her and she just tries to grab at your hands, the quick fucker. “That was only like, once!!!!!!!!” You keep trying to get out and maybe get up to where you can sit comfortably, but all this serves is to put sand in eighty different uncomfortable places, grains falling from your hair and starting to stick to your glasses. All in all, it’s annoying, uncomfortable, and absolutely not helped by the way that Terezi tries to pin your arms to her so that it makes it harder to actually move. Dammit! Normally you’d endorse playing dirty, but this is just bullshit!

“Tell me! Tell me tell me tell me tell me! Come on, it can’t be any more embarrassing than being pinned in the sand by a blind chick!” She’s still cackling, and you’re used to the blind jokes- they’re probably Terezi’s favorite brand of humor to bust out, since she’s pretty much anything but some helpless blind girl. She’s forgiven you, and usually it doesn’t bother you, because that’s all in the past. Hell, even if it were a fresh new fuck up, you just aren’t a person to be dwelling on the past, except for maybe that one time when you were talking to John, but that was only because you didn't know if you'd die.

This time, it gets to you. Just a bit.

You shove that twinge of something painful to the deepest recesses of your mind that you can manage, shoving them deep into the abyss so that it doesn’t rear its ugly head again. You give a long, drawn out, melodramatic sigh as you stop, groaning in Terezi’s ear. “This is haaaaaaaardly fair! Let me up!!!!!!!!” Instead, she wraps her arms around you, and fuck her. She can’t really be busting out that trick, for this shit? But she is, and you try hissing and spitting to no avail.

So over three years on the meteor made a couple of weaknesses obvious. Fortunately, you can handle most of them and basically make yourself unstoppable. Unfortunately, the one thing that you can’t control, Terezi knows about, and like any good monologuer she tells you her plan outright. “I’m going to cuddle you into submission!! Get ready to spill every embarrassing detail, Serket! Hehehehehehehehe!!!!!!!!” You try to struggle harder for a while while she gets cozy on your chest.

“We’re not even in a pile!!!!!!!!” Not only are you not in a pile, but what you’re both in right now is sand. Grainy, shitty sand that’s getting into crevices you didn’t even know existed until that very moment. This legitimately blows, but you can’t get Terezi off, and it feels bony and uncomfortable to have her nose dig into your neck and nuzzle like she’s trying to slit your throat with it. Unfortunately, this shit is for some bizarre reason your only real weakness. So with one more sigh to show her and her stupid sharp nose that you don’t like this situation, really, especially since there are literally so many other things that need talking about, you wrap your own arms around her and give a grumpy chirr. Irons in the fire, murderous children, even a sugar apocalypse seemed easier to talk about like this. “Look, it’s not too much to write home about!!!!!!!! The kid was bummed about meeting a murderous version of themself, told me they killed a few people, and we got into talking about pirates. Then we got into my ancestor, and  _ then _ they wanted to know how to be a pirate, but I didn’t have an extra sword to give them. Theeeeeeeere, happy?”

Terezi snorts like she’s disappointed that you and the kid weren’t making friendship meals or chatting over tea like a couple of lame ass bland nobodies, but then the course of the conversation changes. You realize a little too late that this sand is now your makeshift pile, and while you aren’t always happy with the shitty scalemates your moirail keeps around despite not being a wriggler, at least those squeaky busted pinatas of stuffing were comfortable. You’re going to be dusting sand out of your shirt for sweeps.

“They’ve killed people?”

The question doesn’t come with the usual snark, and yep, this is gonna be a bit of a long session. She loosens her grip enough so you can turn and actually get to a decent position that doesn’t have you invariably pinned to the ground, smug that at least like this Terezi had to be thrown onto her side too by the force of you rolling over. “Yeah? I mean, they seemed pretty shaken up by it, and apparently I remind them of someone they killed before? It was all really fucking weird, honestly…….. But hey, who haaaaaaaasn’t tried to kill a couple of people every once in awhile?”

“Well shit, it’s normal for us to do that, but I don’t think that’s normal for humans.” Terezi says, and she frowns, making that face she makes whenever she’s about to plunge off the deep end into some worrying thoughts, eyebrows furrowing and teeth sticking out over her pouty bottom lip. God dammit, now you're obligated to make those tiny hisses that come from somewhere in your throat. “You saw how Dave and Jade and the others were as kids- death just isn’t a thing humans deal with on a daily basis, and then this one fucking wriggler comes along. You should have seen the version I had to deal with! They were far less cute and cuddly than ours!” She tries to grin, but it’s weird and wobbly. Yeah, something’s wrong here.

At the same time, though, Terezi looks pretty much just fine. No marks all over her body from any battle bad battle. Just mildly shaken. “Okay, shit. Spiiiiiiiill. You’re acting pretty jumpy. Is this Alt-Frisk really as bad as the kid was making them out to be? Or what’s going on with all of that?”

“Some weird shit, I’m sure.” Terezi says, smile finally dropping. Thank God- that shit isn’t fooling anyone. “Because here’s the thing- the murderous Frisk seemed like they had some experience fighting, but no where near our level. I basically ended up creaming their ass, and the ass of some ghostly companion they had with them? Long story.” This is the first you’re hearing of the companion. What the fuck? “The thing is, though, if they’ve had experience with killing, what the hell was with that fight? It was like they were moving in some kind of weird quasi-pattern, and yet in so many possible futures, they’re going to grow to be a big fucking threat. There’s something around here that, if it falls into their hands or even the hands of someone like your whacked out dancestor, could screw us over royally. Or, is screwing us over royally. Unfortunately, I think I know what some of it is.”

Before you ask, your moirail helpfully reaches into her pocket and then shoves a green scrap of fabric in your hand, flashing different colors along one tiny torn corner of it. You recognize this shit. It's what greeted you during the final battle before it was taken off and you were accosted by that weird orange guy. “Shit. I thought that we burned this shitty space-time continuum bullshit and banished it right where it belongs!!!!!!!! Why the hell is it back here? And what the fuck did it do to the kid?”

“That’s the thing- I know that it definitely allowed them to kill dreamselves, but I don’t know what else that thing did! It could have mutated that shitty ghost of theirs, or allowed it to start gaining a form, or even allowed them to create their dreambubbles in the first place!!” Your moirail just sounds frustrated, and you don’t blame her. All this shit is convoluted as fuck, with apparent dreamselves from other times appearing and an entirely separate set of bubbles apparently existing- fuck, it’s like one of those human ‘fan fictions’ that Dave has made way too many metaphors about, with some pimply author bumbling around and trying to find a way to messily sew up the plot holes in a shitty story with characters that aren't even theirs!

“Jesus fucking Christ.” You say, “We have our work cut out for us……..”

“And!” Terezi keeps going, starting to really get aggravated. Man, you know the feeling. You hate the fact that you don’t have all the facts, or any fucking idea what irons are really in the fire. To a Seer who apparently can’t see into your new universe, you can only imagine how fucking bonkers it must be driving her. She gestures, and you run a hand over her available side. “That’s not even taking into account the fact that apparently the Double Berry Sweater kid has a dreamself in the first place! They were never a player in our session of the game, and it’s not like the horrorterrors or anything would  _ want _ them to have a dreamself to fuck around with- hell! We had a future Aradia come back and tell us to grab the brat, because they’d fallen smack in the middle of those bubbles of theirs! God, Vriska, none of this shit makes any sense! I thought we’d be done with this since the game is over!!”

She makes an agitated chitter through their teeth and you pap her back, sighing a bit. “You know, I think that last mystery proooooooobably doesn’t even matter! I mean, they’re here, so the main thing we can do is try to figure out to fix any of the consequences that this genocidal little shit can bring! Where the hell are they? I could probably rough ‘em up really easy, and besides! It’d even be a little ironic, since apparently they killed some chick who was like me!!!!!!!!” And then felt fucking awful for it, like you probably should have. Fuck, you need to get your head out of whatever place it’s been shoved into! This is just getting ridiculous!

“I think this scrap let them into our bubbles, because as soon as I took it, they disappeared. Probably fucked off back to those bubbles of theirs.” Terezi says, and you sit up, eyebrow raising.

“Seeeeeeee! Would you look at that- you just had to go one up me again and send their little ass packing before I even got the chance to fight! So really, is there any need to worry about that shit for now?” 

Terezi thinks on this for a moment as she lays there on the ground and then grins. She sits up, looking in the complete opposite direction of where you are. “Well, can’t argue with that! I mean, shit, we have to talk some more about the Overcoat and whatever else could come back and bite us in the ass, but as of right now I propose that we stop moping around like a bunch of wilty green vegetation and get our asses into gear! We have a lot of shit to do, a lot of crimes to investigate, so many irons in the fire!!! So what do you say, Marquise?”

You stand up as she does, spinning her around to actually face you and punching her shoulder for deliberately being an ass. You know she can smell you! She cackles, and you can’t help but agree, pushing aside any niggling nausea in your gut so that you can focus on the real shit at hand right then. You both have a job to do.

“You know it, Neophyte!!!!!!!! Now let’s hurry up and move out of this sandy hellhole- I’m going to be dreaming grains of bullshit for sweeps at this point.”

**_= = > SANS: Interrupt a perfectly good storyline to continue your own._ **

Man, and you were just getting the funny feeling that some real character development was starting to go down. Not like major, or revolutionary- like some little inkling, caused by a seemingly innocent interaction.

Your name is Sans, though, and right now you have your own storyline to get going. 

Dang, you almost missed your cue to do that, what with zoning out while your brother rambles on about the same thing he’s been rambling about for the last fifty or so cycles. You really love listening to your brother- really, you do, the guy’s got a way with words and is just cool in general- but things get pretty… bland, after hearing the same thing, or at least the gist of the same thing, over and over again.

“SO AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE…” Your brother then turns, hearing the footsteps of little feet over the snow. Right on time, as usual. You know that this kid isn’t even the one that normally comes, so the instinct on that timing might just be tied to some outside force. Or maybe they have similar souls. Who knows?

Papyrus looks back at you, then at Dave the human. You look back at him, then at Dave the human. This continues on for several moments of comedic slapstick that just ends with you spinning in place while your brother’s head whips back and forth. You think you hear a little chuckle, or maybe it’s a tiny giggle, before it’s stifled. There goes part one of your comedy routine- now onto the next part.

“SANS, OH MY GOD!!” If there’s one thing that’ll never get out from cycle to cycle, it’s hearing your brother light up at the prospect of seeing a human. “IS THAT… A HUMAN????”

“I think that’s a rock.” You say, and then things kind of go off the rails from there.

“Sans, come on,” Dave says, being a sarcastic little shit and rolling his eyes behind those ridiculous sunglasses of his. Those things look way too big for his face, and coupled with the ribbon, it just kind of make him seem smaller than he really is. Which isn’t saying much, because this kid is absolutely tiny. Miniscule. You could probably blow and all the skin would fly off of him, leaving nothing but a pile of bones. “You know what I am. Say it. Say it out loud.”

You can work with this. Hell, this is refreshing. You haven’t changed your dialogue in what feels like years.

“Well, if I’m not mistaken, you look like you’re all  _ skin and bones _ .” That one’s weak, but it gets a groan out of your brother and a deadpan look from the kid, so really that’s all that really matters here.

Papyrus squints then, leaning down to look a little closer at the human. Dave rears back a step, and you really don’t like the way the kid holds for dear life onto the handle of that sword. You’re a very old monster- it’s been years since you’ve seen a human with a sword or other fighting instrument, but you know what they’re capable of. Though to be fair, humans are capable of bad shit even if they don’t have weapons- it just seems like they’re a little more willing with a proper killing tool in their hand. Maybe it’s an unconscious jealousy of magic. Maybe they’re just naturally assholes. You wouldn’t know this, because what memories you have of humanity are hazy at best, possibly made up at worst.

Then your brother asks, head tilting a bit. “ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT YOU ARE, IN FACT, A HUMAN? YOU DO INDEED SEEM TO BE VERY SKELETAL UNDER THAT SWEATER!” That catches you off guard because of two things- for one thing, you know your brother wouldn’t just ask that just because the kid looked half starved and way too cut up to be from a fall, and also because you haven’t heard your brother say anything new in ages. 

Whatever the kid's trying to look for in the skeleton, he must have found it, because he loosens his grip on that sword of his. “Nope, I’m totally sure dude- I am one hundred percent Grade A FDA approved human. No substitutes or by-products in me- I’m all organic, the most coveted human of suburban mothers bitc…. Uh, complaining, about GMOs and other helpful stuff in their food.” The kid seems to be trying to curb the inappropriate language a little bit, which is good- you wouldn’t want any of the other kids around to be cussing up a storm and harrying their poor families and friends.

“OH MY GOD!!” Papyrus immediately shifts from inquisitive to explosively enthusiastic. “SANS! I FINALLY DID IT!! UNDYNE WILL… I’M GONNA…. I’LL BE SO……. POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!!” He’s practically vibrating, causing his vertebrae to start gently rattling together. He gets himself together though, a wide grin on his face, expressive despite the limitations of being a bonehead. “AHEM. HUMAN, YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA!! I, THE  _ GREAT PAPYRUS _ SHALL STOP YOU!!! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN… THEN!!!!” He pauses for a moment, as if for dramatic effect. Really, it’s because he’s wracking his skull over what to tell the human, since he doesn’t know. You prefer to keep it that way. 

“I’M NOT SURE WHAT’S NEXT.” Your brother confesses, and you glance over at the human, who raises an eyebrow over their shades. “IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE… IF YOU DARE!!!” He laughs, and then he’s once again gone. Gone off to make sure he’s there by the puzzle to see if it’s activated. You watch him go, snorting a bit. 

Once he’s out of earshot, you say, “Well, that went well.”

“I’ll say.” Dave says, the corner of his lip twitching a bit. It’s weird, seeing an eight year old struggle to look emotionless, vaguely wrong in a way you don’t want to place at the moment. “I can’t believe I let myself be intimidated by him for the few seconds before you had me behind that lamp.”

“I was about to say, don’t worry ‘cause I’ll keep an eyesocket out for ya, but,” You say, pupils darting towards him a bit, “I think you’ll do great out here, kiddo.”

If you know anything about this kid, you know he probably has other things to add, but you have a schedule to maintain. Maybe you’re a little tuckered out from this seemingly new human, or maybe the shake up from your regular comedy routine rattled your old bones more than you’d like to admit- whatever the case, you may as well go ahead and fuck off. So that’s what you do, quickly walking away and probably leaving a very annoyed child in the snow.

Well, you figure it’s probably about time to get back to that other storyline anyway. You’d hate to keep it waiting.

**_= = > ROXY: Receive the human wriggler, further the storyline_ **

You… kind of have no idea where that thought came from, but you’re a little too busy at the moment to possibly dissect the random thought of whatever meta bullshit was just shoved into your brain! You’re trying to find Frisk!

Your name is Roxy, and apparently the little human child has a dreamself.

You didn’t even realize it at first, when you went to sleep. You probably should have expected the sleeping part- you’d all just gotten done creating an entire universe, and you yourself had managed to kill the Batterwitch and end the entire Immortal Alien Empress Who’s Way Too Overpowered dealio before she could fuck you all over anymore than she already has. Of course you’d be tired! So in retrospect, ending up in a dreambubble is normal. What's less normal was the future version of Aradia coming to you and telling you that you may end up getting a very shaken up Frisk sometime soon. 

The question is there, staring you in the face. Frisk wasn’t a player. They didn’t play Sburb, so what kind of purpose does having a dreamself have? Your mind jumps from possibility to possibility, even now. Why would paradox space even need to give them a dreamself? Was it to further the survival of the original players? Then what about Dave, and that man that Frisk had mentioned? Things are going off the rails again, and for seemingly no reason! It's more than a little frustrating.

That isn’t even your biggest concern right now as you pass over the ruins of the Derse that you’ve just fought in, the one still rife with the Batterwitch’s propaganda and the old bloodied spire where someone’s severed head once rested. You scan the ground, trying to see where they might have been- but it’s a little useless, isn’t it? There are thousands and thousands and  _ thousands _ of bubbles, and Frisk is a still child sized, no matter how tall and pudgy they are! Dammit, you should have asked that Aradia  _ where _ you would would have found them, but now it's too late to ask, so now here you are. Back to run around your old prison and hope something happens.

You’re about to dip into the void to maybe try getting a laptop shape out of those generic objects when instead, you hear the fluttering of wings. 

You turn and oh, thank God, there’s Frisk! They seem fine too- not a singular scratch on them! You float over to Aradia quickly, smiling when you see the reassuring smile of the cute ram horned alien babe. Sure, pretty much every girl is a total babe and every guy is a total hunk from what you’ve seen and you’re pretty sure  _ everyone _ is your type, but it was always worth noting that you’re constantly surrounded by veritable angels forever. Reminds you of the important things in life that you need to be cherishing after living in the apocalypse.

Frisk looks over at you and smiles, waving and not seeming mentally scarred at all. Not even a little tremor! That’s as good as it’s gonna get, so you look to Aradia and smile. “Jesus, thanks for getting them! I was havin’ some real trouble finding them, and then I remembered that there are like infinite bubbles because spacetime is like some eternal infinity mechanism of bullshit that’s going on constantly, and I thought that your future self said that they were going to be a little shaken so I was looking all around bubbles that seemed like they’d be the most trauma inducing! But I guess you weren’t in any of those, huh Frisk?” It kind of makes you wonder if you’re a little biased, if only because being put in a cell in a place where you and your friends got high off some alien sugar junk might have been considered traumatic. You don’t  _ feel _ traumatized. Eh, but you’re no psychologist either- you’ll pester your alternate universe mom/daughter about it later.

Frisk shakes their head in answer and signs, and you still can’t understand it, so you ask Aradia, “Where were they, exactly?”

“Well, first they were in a bubble with an alternate timeline version of themself that tried to kill them-”

“Wait, what-?!”

“And then we left Vriska in charge of them for a little bit while myself and Terezi went to find their alternate version-” 

“You left them with who-?!?”

“And then I brought them here to you!” Aradia says as you stare at her with what you hope isn’t horror that’s too obvious. 

“Okay, lemme get my facts straight here.” You say slowly, lips twitching a bit, “Frisk nearly died from an alternate timeline version of themself, and then you left them with a troll who was mad bloodthirsty even before the final battle began?”

Aradia seems to think about this for a moment before saying, “When you put it like that, you frame it as a bad thing?”

“I mean, I think it is?” You say, looking to the child. “I mean, I’ve never seen a real life human child until today, but if television and the remnants of the internet are anything to go by, human children are pretty fragile? You need to like, keep them away from murderers and junk, and maybe give them everything they want and need? I think ‘spoiling’ kids is bad but I don’t think that’s actually possible-”

“Well, Frisk here seems to be a pretty tough wriggler!” Aradia says, looking down at the child who gives them both two hands worth of thumbs up. “They got Vriska to play pirates with them, and I don’t know if anyone’s told you this, but Vriska was pretty no nonsense back on the meteor!”

You smile a bit at that, relaxing a bit. You… honestly have no clue where these mother hen tendencies are coming from, but you figure that it’s kinda like mothering your friends for all these years when you weren’t drunk off your ass, but on a bigger scale. Dirk can defend himself. Jane’s a tough cookie. Jake can figure out stuff if he puts his mind to it- they’re all mostly fine without you. This is a literal human child who apparently is way more vulnerable and way more liable to do weird things that put them in danger. You doubt that Frisk will like, crawl into a construction site and leave you to chase after them in some humorous slapstick, but still… it’s at least slightly worrying, especially with everything that’s happened.

“You know, I think that we should take this meeting to the ground,” you say eventually, “because now that Frisk is here, I think there are some things that we can stand to do! We can get to work on trying to find the person who did this!” All your worrying may have successfully dissipated, but that still doesn’t lessen your slight anxiety about another little problem. Dave. He’s still in the universe that you’ve all created, and no one can get a good read on him. Hell, maybe in some fucked up turn of events, he’s just been transported to the void, which would make retrieval a little easier. 

“Agreed!” Aradia nods and you both descend to the ground. When your shoes hit the violet cobbles, you sit back down on the ground, watching Aradia do the same. Frisk rolls out of her grip and sits between the both of you, looking to the ground with a little bit of a pout to their lips. They look at you and mime writing something, and dammit, that’s right! They must not have dreamt bringing their chalk with them. Not like that purple would have shown up on the cobbles.

“I’ll go ahead and get you something!” But instead of floating up to run around Derse in some comical fashion, you focus, looking at your hands. Chalk. You know what chalk looks like- you may have only had it for so many months, and you have  _ no _ fucking clue who would throw chalk into the Void, but hey, someone had to have stuffed enough chalk down their gullet to make it disappear from existence! After all, from what you know of the trolls, you know at least one (if not more) are big chalk eaters. Man, you hope that shit isn’t toxic.

You’re getting sidetracked. Focus…

Soon enough, a green shape falls into your lap. It’s blocky on one end with strange protrusions (maybe from that spiky Matriorb you made earlier? Hell if you know how these powers work, you became a god like earlier that day), but it feels enough like chalk and it’s a bright enough green that the writing should show up pretty well against the purple ground! You pick the piece of chalk up and hand it to Frisk, who holds it awkwardly in their hand before leaning down to write on the ground. / _ Vriska was really nice! Even with whatever happened before./ _

“That’s very sweet of you to say, and I think that Vriska must appreciate the sentiment!” Aradia smiles, leaning forward a bit to see the writing better. “But I’m afraid we’ll have to speak about Vriska later. There’s still a few questions we wish to ask you- about who brought you into this place, and if you would possibly know why.” Frisk nods solemnly, as if they’d expected this. “Now Frisk, who took you here?”

/ _ The skeleton man made of shadow. He almost seemed to be very sick- he was big and black, and all I could see were his face and his hands./ _

Your eyebrows furrow and you look a the writing on the ground, chewing on your lip. Shit, this is some damn weird stuff already- a sick man, who happened to be a skeleton. Then again, you have your own lovely skull gal to hang around, so it might not have been the weirdest thing you’ve ever heard. Technically, anyway. “Did he say anything to you, or was it a grab and go type deal?”

Frisk seems to think for a moment before writing,  _ /Yes, they signed things. Their hands were very fast, though, so I could only see a little bit. He said I wasn’t progressing because I needed to do something else. Then he pulled me through a big house shaped door.../ _

So whatever pulled Frisk through had something to do with Sburb? Maybe? Then why would he pull an innocent kid through? Why try and pull some other guy through? God dammit, there are way too many questions for this simple thing! They just need to figure out a name, figure out something other than that this guy looks like a skeleton… 

Though maybe, that would help too.

“Hey, ‘Radia?” You ask, looking to her. “Do you think that the skeleton thing has to do with any skeletons that we happen to know?” Aradia’s eyebrows raise as she considers it.

“It is entirely possible- though I don’t see how this being would have gotten in contact with Calliope, or if he were in cahoots with…” The suggestion trails off, and hangs sourly in the air. You didn’t even want to think about it, but if it’s true- then this skeleton might have allied himself with the big skull bastard of a Lord himself and this was all somehow part of some other plan bigger than themselves that paradox space seemed to have in place for the sole purpose of screwing them over. Jesus, haven’t they had enough of it?

Eventually you say, “I think I might want to go talk to someone about this. I’m thinking about talking to her- to the Alternate Calliope.” Calliope had told you about her. How there existed an alternate version of herself who had the courage to rise and absorb her brother, but only through years of complete isolation. She seemed to be almost all knowing, nearly omniscient, so if there was anyone you could ask about this then maybe it was her.

“That would be a good use of our time, I would think.” Aradia nods, smiling again, “Especially since we seem to be running out of time! Time for what, I’m none too sure, but it’s time that we’re losing. Would you like me to go inform Rose of the decision and what we’ve found?”

“Oh man, would you? That’d be super swell! Super duper swell!” You grin, and turn to the human child who's still miraculously asleep and here in this bubble. You… aren’t too sure how the Alternate Calliope would treat this apparent intruder in the bubbles. You also aren’t sure if that’s a conversation you even want to be going into in front of the kid. So you reach into the pocket of your sweet God Tier duds and pull out a handful of sparkling powder that Calliope was sweet enough to give you. “And could you do me one more favor? Bring Frisk here out to where the others are- they can tell them about some of the things they did back where they came from!”

Frisk tries to shake their head, eyebrows furrowing. Oh, sweet thing, they must have wanted to go with you to see this! Too bad searching through the dreambubbles, especially some of the bloodier ones, aren’t for the eyes of a child. Aradia nods, saying, “Will do!” before closing her eyes. You’re quick to blow the special wake up dust into their faces, and then they’re gone. Frisk and Aradia likely just woke up back on the ship.

You stand, the kind of useless stick of chalk rolling off your lap. Time to go Calliope hunting! You have a feeling that this is going to be a long, long search ahead of you, considering the fact that you need to find a way to communicate with

**_= = > DAVE: Distract from this tedious narrative with dogs!_ **

Your name is DAVE and holy fuck this is the fluffiest thing you have ever seen.

Then again, that isn't the hardest title to earn, since most fluffy things that you’ve seen have either been disturbing rumps or were seen in the last three years with Karkat on the meteor (ironically the most sharp and not comfortable thing you’ve ever been in), so it probably isn’t  _ that _ hard for something to be fluffy as hell, but you’re fairly sure that this is a dog. A dog with a tank top with a face on it, but a real, actual dog, and not just some all powerful hellbeast in a sprite.

So seeing as you already disregarded that helpful sign on your way through these somehow fairly bright and cheery neck of the woods, you figure that you may as well play along with the fluffy, talking T-Rex here.

A talking dog. Somehow, out of everything you’ve seen in the past three years, that’s the most ridiculous.

“Who’s there?! I can hear you!!” The dog looks around with shifty eyes, but you know his shtick, on account of he literally just told you. He couldn’t see moving things, and his attacks glow blue and phase straight through you like a brush of air. You don’t like to think about the first time it happened, and how you freezing up from the ice that somehow froze your stomach lining to your spine from the sight of a tall figure with a sword standing over you happened, but as far as you’re concerned, that was just fast reflexes. You’re totally fine. This the most nonlethal battle with a sword you’ve ever had, and even if the sight of those bowie knives makes your stomach turn, you’re able to push it down because this is entirely different from everything from before.

“That might be because I’m right fucking here.” You say, not moving a goddamn inch. Is this what it feels like to be some disembodied voice? Holy shit, you’ve gotta try this. You narrate, adding your own option to the ACT menu. “The mysterious voice calls to the friendly looking animal, looking around himself like there are a load of fucking squirrels in the area just jonesin’ to be chased through the snow on account of being a couple of fluffy little bastards…” You chance a tiny step to the left to keep this guy on his toes, and another, and stand stock still as a knife passes harmlessly through you. 

“Squirrels?! Where are they?!?” The poor dog is getting agitated by your shenanigans, but fuck, this is kind of too fun to stop. You really don’t know what unbelievable jackass would try to spoil your fun in teasing this fluffy dog and his shifty eyes and his loud, frenzied voice, but when there’s a will there’s a way, and it’s been awhile since you’ve seen this jackass.

Is it appropriate to call an eleven year old a jackass at your technical age? Probably not, but you’re in the body of an eight year old, so you think it’s excusable.

“Dave, what in the  _ heck _ are you doing?!”

Chara appears somewhat to your left, floating there with their arms crossed over their chest as if they hadn’t totally bailed as soon as you left the Ruins. Asshole kid, only turning up whenever it's convenient for them to order you around. Not that you need any help in this adventuring department- you have this entire monster non-fighting and puzzle solving thing in the bag. Besides, how hard can a puzzle designed for an eight year old be to someone who won Sburb, the most cagey of puzzling bullshit? “I’m messing with this dog- what does it look like.”

The ghost kid rubs the bridge of their nose as they say, “That’s a dumb thing to do. You need to just end this fight, otherwise you’ll get hit eventually! You probably aren’t smart enough to figure out-” You stand still as the blade once again ineffectually passes straight through you, eyebrow raising over your shades. Chara stares back at you before huffing out a breath, shaking their head. “Alright, so maybe you have some idea. But you need to move on! Don’t you want to leave?”

“Yeah,” You admit, if only because you’re pretty sure that if you can’t find a way to the old universe then it'd be on the surface, and so far, you haven't found one singular glowing door. Fuck, just thinking about them makes you miss them, assholes though they are. “But shit man, I’m in no hurry- I got all the time in the world, so if I wanna hang around a shifty eyed dog with a cute shirt, who are you to judge? Especially since you weren’t being a cryptic bastard in the woods where it would have been prime cryptic-”

“ _ There _ you are!” 

You barely dodge a very non-glowing, lethal attack and suck in a breath, staying still again. This time, you don’t compromise your position by running your mouth, despite the fact you want to tell the smug asshole behind you some snarky remark for floating there with their arms crossed, nearly singing, “Told you so, dummy!” What a little dick. 

You inch closer, about three more ineffectual strikes passing through your pausing form in the shittiest game of red light green light when finally, you reach your prize- the dog’s ears. You have absolutely no fucking clue how to properly pet a dog, which is a damn shame, one that needs to be remedied with immediate sending to Dog Petting School so that you can learn among the best and brightest idealistic opportunistic fucks with a few dollars to throw around to learn how to love on that adorable puppy they adopted on impulse.

Then you kinda ruffle the fur on the dog’s head, and that dog goes absolutely fucking  _ insane _ . The look in those shifty eyes just goes wild as his head whips around, jaw open wide and gaping. “WHAT?! I’ve been PET!!” He swings wildly with another blue attack and you stand still, kind of laughing because he’s still going. “POT? PAT! PET?! PUT!! WAP!” This animal is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever seen, and it’s hard to believe that this would eventually become part of the carapace who decided to fuck your session of Sburb without any lube.

The dog stops attacking you though, finally, and he shudders as if there's a ghost in the area. Which is at least seven tiers of irony right off the bat, what with you and Chara standing witness as he said, “S-s-something pet me! Something that wasn’t m-m-moving… I’m gonna need some dog treats for this!” And then the animal sinks back behind the counter of his station.

You move a little ways ahead, telling Chara and their bitter little mug, “Hey, see, what did I tell you? I’ve got this shit under control. I’ve been in way more dangerous quicksand bullet time real time shit than just some dog with a sight problem.” Speaking of, if that was a dog who couldn’t see well, couldn’t he just have sniffed you out? Or tasted the air to see where the hell you were? Or was that less of a canine thing and more of a Pyrope thing? 

You’re pulled out of your musings when the ghost child tries to stop you from walking away, scowling at you. 

So instead of heeding their tries, you keep ignoring the little fucker because they haven’t moved on from shouting insults at you and trying to control which way you should go, which according to them shouldn't be up ahead. Which is weird, because it’s just Sans there- and even if he can do some damage, or wanted to, you’re reasonably sure that you can get out of the situation. You don’t trust that fucker, for the record, but if you were supposed to get out and find your way back, you’ll do what you have to do. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t strike an unreasonable amount of apprehension through your system when Chara keeps insisting, trying to tug on you and failing.

“Come  _ on _ , you can’t go see him! Go do something else! You’re not  _ like _ Frisk, and he sees that- he’s the  _ only one here _ who seems to see that, and if he saw your LOVE, it’s over! It’s- it’s over if he saw!”

You remember what that discount Audrey Two said earlier- you have an unusually high LOVE. But he framed it as a good thing- hell, he was talking about  _ raising _ it. So what's the problem here? What secret deal does this kid know, but you don’t? You still proceed anyway, because you’re not about to wuss out on the orders of your friendly neighborhood asshole. Sans turns his head towards you, pupils drifting over the scenery behind you as if just looking on a whim, before they settle on you. You can’t tell if he wants his grin to widen because, as always- there’s nothing. Still no goddamn hint of any real emotion other than ‘happy’. 

“Heya kid. So I guess you figured out blue attacks, huh?” Sans says genially, still as jovial as ever, a chubby, smiling fuck despite the fact that by bones standards he shouldn’t look like he has a pot belly and shouldn’t have a mouth perpetually shaped like that. “You seemed like a smart kid from the beginning- I appreciate that, because that means I don’t gotta explain things too much, other than that, here’s a hint- my bro uses those attacks. So you know just what you’re doing when it comes to dodging.” His tone of voice is pretty casual, stating everything as if he’s just casually commenting on the weather. “Just be sure not to use any unfair… advantages. Papyrus is too nice to be callin’ out guys who cheat, you know?” Would Papyrus ever even realize? You’d hate to offend this guy, especially since Chara is standing back, waiting tensely for something, but his brother didn’t seem like the sharpest tool in the shed when you met. 

Before you can say anything, he just looks at you and his smile finally does something. It seems to fucking widen. 

“And hey, you know I really don’t like havin’ to deal with cheaters.”

And then he’s gone.

The way he said that, and the way he just vanished just… leaves a chill running down your spine. You still have no idea what the fuck this guy’s deal is, and this weird, cagey fucking behavior just solidifies the idea that this guy  **_shouldn’t be trusted_ ** in any capacity. At least now you have some validation in what’s going on.

Even then, you have to stop yourself from snapping at Chara when they shake their head slowly, muttering, “It’s too late.” You’ll be fine. You’ve been fine through all these adventures you’ve had, and now is no different. There’s always going to be shit that happens, things to try and tear you apart, because life or fate or whatever governing principle of paradox space is like that. Even then, the entire encounter leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and you can’t stop the way your heart is beating.

 

You begin to move ahead, trying to shake the feeling of someone watching.

 

 

 

**_???: Oversee_ **

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**_S̕YSTE̸M̧ ̵̨̨E̷͜Ŗ̵͢Ŗ̸̸O͜R_**  
  
---  
  
 


	9. Part 8: The Chapter that Focuses Solely on Dave's Storyline, And Rapidly Goes Off the Deep End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year!! Now that that's been said, let's add on a new chapter to this to ring in the new year! Here's chapter 9, and let me just say- the next chapter will be a mix of both storylines again, while chapter 11 will end up being homestuck specific. Still, I think I expanded upon a POV question of homestuck- could one of the characters MAKE you be them? 
> 
> Thanks for sticking by me this long, and prepare yourselves for a bit of an emotional roller coaster! Drama! Papyrus narrating! Old coping mechanisms being uncovered and long lost pasts being hinted at! Heeeeeere's Glitchtale!

**_= = = > SANS: Explain this sudden denial! Who’s following Dave?!_ **

_ huh? how dya figure that I would know what the hell’s going on here? i didnt even realize someone was following the kid until i got the feeling just now- thanks for that, by the way. now i can keep one eyesocket on the kid while i keep the other out for this  _

**_= = = = = >_ **

_ wow rude. was it the pun? that’s kinda my entire schtick there buckos. you dont just force a man to divorce from his lifes work _

**_= = = = = = = = > READER: be literally anyone else in this moment to get immediate answers_ **

_ oh no you don’t; you got here already, so now if you’re gonna be someone, you may as well be me. i doubt that anyone has any more of an idea than I do of what’s goin on. besides, itll be a fun little look into what else is going on. _

Your name is SANS THE SKELETON, and really, not much has changed beyond the interactions with the human. After you fucked off literally a few minutes ago, you found your brother and now you watch him while he puts up the (much more non-lethal than it sounds) invisible electricity maze puzzle. The guy’s got a damn good grip on puzzle construction- to an alarming degree, really. Most monsters already struggle with doing little spells like adding a pinch of wakefulness or charisma into their coffee in the morning, but you and your bro? You’re both slightly more gifted than most monsters.

You say ‘slightly’, but right now, you close and then open your eyes to see the opalescent walls that your brother is raising. Normally, they’re invisible, but with enough magic in the air and a little detection, it’s easy to see where they rise up to the ceiling, just in case some of what Undyne said about some humans flying and controlling minds were true. You know for a fact that it isn’t factual, but that doesn’t stop your brother from taking precautions anyway.

Papyrus raises the walls made completely out of some snow-plexi-plastic thing he got from Undyne with orange magic slowly enveloping every inch of them. He’s a strong guy, your brother is, and you’re at least 95% sure he knows that. Even then, it’s still pretty cool to chill out on a snow poff of your making and just watch him work on his stuff, no matter how many times you’ve seen every action- he has a vision, and who are you to get in the way with some half-assery? Besides, it’s a little piece of normalcy after you had your bones shaken.

You count down in your head from five, and directly when you get to zero Papyrus gets the last wall in place before turning to you, gloved hands on his hips. “BROTHER!” If you could move your mouth, you would be able to mouth along. “ONCE AGAIN, YOU JUST SIT DOWN WHILST I SLAVE AWAY- WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!?”

“Watching the puzzle master work,” You shrug, saying the same thing as always. He snorts, and then holds the orb that he’s supposed to be giving to the human to shock him if he touches one of the invisible walls, which still pulse faintly with blue and orange magic. “I mean, who am I to impede upon what you’re doin’? Besides, I got my puzzle calibrated and made already for just in case the kid gets through this one. It’s pretty geared to a young human to solve, and honestly, this human we got here? They seem pretty dang smart.”

Papyrus thinks for a moment, and goes off script, catching you off guard. “AND YOU DO NOT THINK THAT IT IS TOO STRENUOUS FOR THE HUMAN? THEY ARE A RATHER YOUNG ONE! IT WOULD BE FAR TOO EASY TO CAPTURE THEM AS IS, ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY LOOK AS IF THEY WOULD TIRE QUICKLY!”

Yeah, so he’s noticed it too. You’ve been trying not to let it bother you much, since the humans who fall down here always seem to have some reason and you can pretty much guess his, but Dave is not the proper size of a normal human child. You don’t think Papyrus knows that, but he does see how bone thin the poor kid is. Honestly, a puff of wind could come along and then blow the little guy away, he seems so tiny. It’s been bothering you, but you can’t exactly show all that, considering what you’ve seen.

After all, how does all that LOVE fit inside such a tiny, sickly package?

No, there’s something else there that’s bothering you, so you’ve been thinking about that instead of the way that the kid seems to constantly shiver. That Dave kid can actually end up being dangerous, if you don’t keep an eye on him, but so far he doesn’t seem as far removed from the consequences of violence as someone of his LOVE would be. The more LOVE someone had, the easier it should have been to distance themself from the actual kill and not feel guilty. Yet, he seems mostly fine and empathetic, wary around you for sure, but alright. He couldn’t have gained that LOVE down here- so what did he do in the human world? 

Possibilities of mass murdering psychopaths aside, you go ahead and answer your bro’s question. “Nah, I think he’ll be good with this- it’s just a little puzzle. ‘S not as if he could die from it.”

Which is weird, since every single time your brother gets zapped by the orb he’s charred to a crisp with the burnt remains of that sweet sweet magic rolling off in steam. It never actually does any damage to him, but it certainly never has that effect on humans. Maybe it has to do with constitution- sticks and bones could break bare bones, but to humans both things may as well have been words that never hurt them. 

Papyrus nods thoughtfully, and then shushes you as if you were breaking out into some soliloquy. “BROTHER SHHHH!! THE HUMAN ARRIVES! ACT LIKE YOU AREN’T DOING ANYTHING SO THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, LOOK HARD AT WORK BEING A COOL AND INTERESTING ADVERSARY!”

“Way ahead of you, bro.” And arrive the human does. You close your eyes and open them, seeing through the invisible walls to where the human stands on the other side of the place, pausing a bit. That’s another thing about the kid you’ve noticed- for the most part, his expression never changes. It’s just a stoic little line mouth and those shades, unless he’s trying to stifle giggles or unless his eyebrows furrow a bit. You know all about never changing expressions- but it’s a little different for you, what with being an adult and unable to move your big boned face an inch. So what’s this kid’s deal?

“YOU’RE SO LAZY!! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!” Your brother tells you, in full earshot of the human.

“I think that’s called… sleeping.” You say, glancing at the human momentarily before deciding to grant him the mercy of at least one missed bad joke.

“EXCUSES, EXCUSES!”

“Hey, not to rain on your parade,” Dave calls from across the snowy field, “but why the he-eeck do skeletons need to sleep? Aren’t you supposed to be the oogity boogities in the closet or whatever? You don’t even have brains to rest, right?  _ Do _ you even have brains?”

You snort as your brother turns, and promptly glosses over Dave’s every question because neither of you have no idea what the hell is up with your anatomy being only bones with no real organs. You just chalk it up to magic taking place of a brain, and you’re fairly sure that magic doesn’t need to rest much. “OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES, AS CURIOUS AS EVER!! WELL, I’M SURE YOU WILL BE CURIOUS TO KNOW HOW IT IS WE WILL STOP YOU! WHICH IS WITH!! THE AID OF PUZZLES THAT MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CRAFTED!” 

“More of them?” Dave’s eyebrows raise, but he stands back and watches, arms crossed over his chest. Again, there’s that damn sword.

“YES, MORE!! AND I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE… QUITE  _ SHOCKING _ !!! FOR YOU SEE! THIS IS THE INVISIBLE... ELECTRICITY MAZE!!!” One gloved hand sweeps out over the field, and Dave tenses. Untenses, and shivers, eyebrows furrowing as he looks over the field. Papyrus takes out the blue orb, holding it up triumphantly. “WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP! SOUND LIKE FUN???”

“Not really, no,” Dave says, “even if I’m sure a toasted bit of electrified Strider is totally what anyone out here needs in this chilly as- duck weather.”

“FANTASTIC!” Papyrus says, chest puffing up a bit, “BECAUSE! THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE, IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL I THINK. OKAY, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW.” 

Instead of taking a step forward, Dave stands there for a second, eyebrows furrowing as he looks at the field in front of him. He stares, as if trying to find the walls of it, and then sits right down in the snow. He shudders violently, muttering some obscenity to the air in front of him, and starts untying the ribbon from his hair. Then, in a move that you don’t expect from an eight year old, he ties the non conductible cloth around the tip of his broken metal sword, making a makeshift walking stick out of it by gripping it by the hilt and tapping the air in front of him with the cloth covered tip. 

Huh. Clever kid.

The kid gets up and goes forwards. Then that ribbon tipped sword touches one of the electric walls and Papyrus gets that hearty zap, shaking in place as his magic makes literal sparks arc around him. He’s left charred black, with the only bits of color on him being the whites of eyes that suddenly pop into his sockets. From where, you haven’t a clue.

The kid’s reaction is pretty interesting though- he fumbles with his weapon, cursing at the sight of Papyrus charred there and taking a step back. So yeah, an empathetic response. Not a response you’d expect from someone who seems to have killed as much as this kid apparently did.

Most of the char falls off of Papyrus as he whirls to you, stomping his foot and leaving black in the snow. “Sans!! What did you do!”

“I think the human has to hold the orb.” Classic Papyrus, forgetting some component to his puzzle last minute. Man you love this guy.

“OH, OKAY.” He says, then goes all throughout the maze that only you two can see with magic, leaving an obvious trail for the human in the snow in the form of very big, obvious black footprints. You know that your brother is smart, but sometimes, you wonder what’s going through his head- is he just so focused on the human’s reaction that he doesn’t realize what kind of big giveaway he gives the kid? “HOLD THIS PLEASE!” Whatever the case, he throws the orb and runs back, somehow landing the device perfectly into Dave’s hair. “OKAY, TRY NOW!”

Dave tilts his head back, as if trying to see the device, and experimentally tries to pick it up, only to pull his hands back. Tiny lips purse, and then he raises the ribbon tipped sword to his head and knocks the orb off, turning around quick as a flash and using his weapon to bat it straight into the forest beyond. Damn, those are some fast reflexes.

“AW, WHAT?!” Papyrus exclaims, watching that orb go. Yeah, that thing is gone. “HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO COMPLETE THE PUZZLE NOW?!”

“By walking through the maze? I’ll still find the path,” Dave seems to sense that your brother is upset, and he tries to placate him. You can kind of respect that. Or you might have, if not for the fact that the path is right there and Dave could have just kept the orb. “It’s just that, uh. I don’t do well with electricity. I’m kinda human, and that stuff does a lot to us, even in tiny amounts, and I’m already pretty dang small by human standards.” 

Papyrus considers this and then nods. “OH, I SEE. CARRY ON THEN!” 

The kid does carry, on, valiantly not looking directly at the ground and instead feeling out his way by tapping the walls, as if they're still electrified. You can definitely respect that, especially with how pleased it seems to make your brother. At the end of the maze, the human turns to the both of you and opens his mouth, only to be steamrolled by Papyrus. “INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL!! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY… TOO EASILY!” The human looks back over the invisible maze with the black charred path, then back to Papyrus, and just seems to stare for a moment. “HOWEVER!! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE SO EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEHEHEHEHEH!” Then your brother slides away, backwards.

The human stares in the direction your brother went, raises two fists to rub at the eyes under the shades, and then sets back down on the freezing earth to untie the now slightly torn ribbon, which he then ties back into his hair. While he’s doing that, you take it into your own hands to go over to him, speaking casually. “Hey kiddo, thanks for that- my brother seems to be having a ton of fun.” The kid looks up at you and opens his mouth to say something, frowning. 

Before you have to deal with any questioning, you change the subject before it’s even arrived. “By the way, did you see that weird outfit he’s wearing? We made it a few weeks ago for a costume party. He hasn’t worn anything else since… keeps calling it his battle body. Man. Isn’t my brother cool?”

You say that without a hint of sarcasm or condescension, just being entirely genuine. Your brother is really freaking rad. The raddest of dudes. He’s passionate about everything and works so hard at it all, and he does what he wants while still being a genuinely nice guy and not being some weirdo with any kind of superiority complex- he just thinks that everyone can be a good person, which is sweet. It’s something you still wish you could believe in.

Despite this, the kid seems taken aback, and he closes his mouth. He just stares at you for a moment, with that face that never moves, but you think that you can feel a bit of his suspicion. That, and maybe a hint of jealousy.

This time, Dave’s the one who fucks off first before you can get a proper conversation going.

Man- you really can’t bring yourself to trust this kid too much, but you’re still a little worried. Just what is that kid’s deal, with that stoic face?

Oh well. Best you can do is move on.

 

_ thats probably the best thing you can do now too. now go on- dont you have some other adventure to see? _

**_PAPYRUS: Prepare more puzzles for the human!_ **

 

 

_ EXCUSE ME! I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE QUITE UNDERSTANDING- THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE PAPYRUS, AND THAT’S ME!  _

_ DO NOT FRET THOUGH, HUMAN, MONSTER, OR MISCELLANEOUS OTHER, FOR I AM VERY SURE THAT YOU ARE GREAT IN WHATEVER CHARACTER YOU ARE- WHETHER YOUR NAME IS FRISK OR TINT OR WHAT HAVE YOU- AND I DO NOT MIND ALLOWING YOU A SMALL PEEK INTO MY PRIVATE AFFAIRS! _

_ I MUST WARN YOU THOUGH- MY STORY IS A VERY TUMULTUOUS ONE, AS ANY STORY STARRING MYSELF, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, IS BOUND TO BE! SO HOLD ONTO YOUR SEATS, BECAUSE THIS WILL BE A TALE OF PASSION! ADVENTURE!! RISING TO THE TOP OF FAME AND FORTUNE!!! _

_ IT IS ONLY NOW COMING TO MY ATTENTION THAT SOME PEOPLE MAY FIND MY VOICE TO BE VERY LOUD AND VERY FRIGHTFUL AT ITS CURRENT VOLUME, SO FOR THIS STORY, I WILL SPEAK AT A LOWER VOLUME. I hope that this is okay! _

_ And now, onto the real star of this story- yours truly!! _

**_PAPYRUS: Prepare more puzzles for the human!_ **

I am way ahead of you, disembodied narrative command! It is a trait that I, the Great Papyrus, have honed over many sweeps of puzzle construction- the ability to plan ahead! That is in addition to my ability to multitask, which is what allowed me to speak to the person or persons attempting to become me while simultaneously dealing with the fact that my brother placed a junior jumble down in the snow after his… snowball thing, instead of another legitimate puzzle!

I know that Sans is smart enough to construct puzzles. Great puzzles! Fantastic puzzles! He used to make such wonderful puzzles for me to solve back when we lived in Hotland, when I was merely a bit of baby bones! Back then, he actually worked in a lab for the brilliant Dr. Alphys! He didn’t use to be the sack of lazy bones he is now, so perhaps that is why this all is so frustrating. But I am getting off track into a story (another one of the many, many skills that make up the veritable arsenal of good attributes that make up myself) while multitasking setting up this pasta to entice the human, when I SHOULD be multitasking doing these switch puzzles and telling you what happened with the Dave human and Sans’s ‘puzzle’. Notice the air quotes to denote the fact that I only mean puzzle in the very, very loosest of terms.

So the human arrived after the snowball puzzle, and I asked Sans where the puzzle was, but he just pointed to the Junior Jumble and said that’s where it was. The human simply walked past it then, holding a hand over his mouth- no doubt in disappointment at the lackluster challenge presented to him! 

This Dave human is a clever cookie- I should know! Even though I am still slightly saddened by the loss of my electricity orb, it makes sense that humans would be wary, even if I did turn the electricity all the way down before throwing it onto Dave’s head. Despite the fact that I made sure to leave a very clear trail, just in case the human was a novice at puzzles, he simply ignored it and used a tool of his own fashioning to feel out the walls! Truly, a worthy adversary to match wits with! It will make the act of capture that much sweeter once the chase is over, knowing that my position, power and friends will all be hard won!

There I go, going off on a tangent again! Boy, getting these snowballs into place for this switch puzzle sure is pulling me out of the moment! Apologies to my audience for my absentmindedness- now, where was I…

Oh yes! So just as Dave walked past the puzzle, Sans said- and I know that this will shock a number of those here- that he should have put down the crossword INSTEAD of junior jumble because it was HARDER! Can you believe that? The crosswords are so easy, because they have no challenge to them!! Just put Z for every letter and you may as well have won for how boring it is! Junior Jumble is clearly the superior challenge- that menagerie of random letters can have any number of red herrings, and even if you  _ think _ you’ve found a word, you need to double check! Just to make sure that you REALLY found the word! 

But my brother was insistent, calling it a puzzle for baby bones. Incensed, I implored the human to settle this dispute. The human thought for a moment, before courageously admitting to a fault of his- he thought that both were equally hard! In his own words he said, “I can’t really wrap my head around that spatial word junk, you feel?” And I felt! I felt immensely for this human, for not everyone has skill in everything, and that was fine, for everyone has skill in  _ something _ !

So I very kindly nodded, and told him to worry not about silly things like word puzzles when he could be honing his talents for solving field puzzles and pat him on the head. He seemed slightly comforted by my words, if discomforted by my touch. I will have to remember that for the future! Then I left, and began setting up more for the human to solve!

Except, the human sure is taking a long time to get here… and the two puzzles I wanted to set up have been, so I suppose I have a lot of time… I know!  _ Between _ the two puzzles, I will mold a third, challenging spectacle in the shape of my beautiful visage! Surely, the human will appreciate the increased challenge, and also surely will appreciate the beauty that is any kind of version of myself rendered in a pure medium such as snow!

I spend some time on that, and eventually, my masterpiece is done! But then I have to wonder- will three puzzles in a row be alright? The human is clever, yes, and I’m sure will solve these, but three puzzles in a row takes a lot of stamina! And he is a very small human! I don’t want to overburden his body, especially since he appears strangely sick.

I look over at my puzzle, pondering and pondering, my back turned to the spikes that separate my Face Puzzle with the simpler one. Then, I faintly hear a switch, several separate whooshes, and the sound of footsteps. I turn around and- lo and behold- the human arrives, moving on silent feet! Well, the joke is on him, for no one who’s completed a puzzle can so easily escape my notice or my inquiry!

“WAIT A MOMENT!” I say dashingly, looking to the human who seems slightly frozen in what I can only sense to be slight awe. He is wary- a very wary human indeed- but he need not seem so afraid to be in the presence of genius, if he can match it himself! “HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP?! AND MORE IMPORTANTLY… IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME?”

I know that it is a cardinal shame, but I honestly have not tried my own pasta just yet! There are many other things that need my attention, so I generously leave the food to others. Everyone says that my cooking is marvelous though! Like nothing they’ve ever tasted!!

“Well uh, it was frozen to the table,” the human says, shifting a bit with that sword in their hands. It’s certainly a neato weapon that he has there! I have no doubt that Undyne would be very interested in having a look, and I can show her once I capture the human! “So I wasn’t able to eat it or anything. That sure was a trap though- I spent forever trying to plug in that microwave.”

Oh, what an oversight! I forgot about the temperatures around here, and it’s not as if humans have any fire magic! “OH! MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES, HUMAN- BUT WORRY NOT! YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE KEPT IN SUSPENSE, LONGING FOR A CHANCE TO TRY SOME OF MY GOURMET COOKING! FRET NOT, HUMAN, FOR I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS WILL MAKE YOU ALL THE HOMECOOKED PASTA THAT YOU COULD EVER DESIRE!” Then as if to second that, the human’s stomach makes a fierce growl. 

He looks down at his stomach as I grin, knowing that back in Snowdin I will be able to cook all that I can! Then he looks up at me and asks, “Uh, how’s that cooking thing gonna work if you capture me?”

“SIMPLE!” I assure as reassuringly as I can, keeping a respectful distance. “I WILL SIMPLY VISIT THE CASTLE AND COOK FOR YOU AND KING ASGORE!” He seems to want to say something, but then apparently becomes too shy to say anything and closes his mouth. I guess that I can just have that effect on people, what with my dashing good looks! “HEHEHEHENYEH!”

He walks with me to the next puzzle, moving his legs quickly to keep up with my stride and ending up winded, panting heavily at the end of the little sprint and shuddering a bit as he wipes away the sweat that quickly freezes to his skin. Well, I must commend him for the effort! His legs are tragically much shorter than mine, after all, and unlike me he was just power walking on an empty tummy! It would make sense that he needs a moment to catch his breath, so I wait patiently for him and tell him about the origin of this next puzzle. “HUMAN! HOW DO I SAY THIS… YOU WERE TAKING A LONG TIME TO ARRIVE, SO I DECIDED TO CREATE A THIRD PUZZLE HERE BY ARRANGING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE! I HOPE THAT YOU CAN APPRECIATE THE ARTISTIC MERITS I POURED INTO THIS PIECE!”

Dave the human actually laughs a little breathlessly, but his shivering is nearly nonstop now. I don’t think that’s really a good sign- it’s like the rabbits who live in town! They need to bundle up in addition to their fur when they go outside, and yet here’s the Dave human, seemingly lacking much fur and with thin outer layers! Before I can say anything else, he stands up straighter, still breathing heavily, and says, “Holy sh-ooting heck, man, that’s like the best thing I’ve ever heard. Snow and switch in the shape of a skeleton face. God, I love it.” 

I am very glad that he agrees with me that it’s a wholesome idea, and I send him off! While he’s doing the puzzle, it gives me a chance to look on my person- for you see, I never leave home unprepared! I have a multitude of items that I carry in my inventory, and I just need to find my backup scarf. After all, with a battle body like this, it stands to reason that anything remotely dangly can be torn off by a human in battle! So it’s always good to make sure that my battle body is always complete, which is why I keep no less than three backup scarves and two backup hats, each with licorice pasta bits, just in case I need any extra ‘oomph’ to my already impressive fashion!

When I look up again, the second scarf in hand, Dave is already almost done! He’s caught on quick, and I’m sure that he will find the next puzzle invariably fun! Though, perhaps not challenging, if this is how quickly he can go… Hm… perhaps I will need to enlist some help to really give myself time to construct the ultimate puzzle!

Then the Dave human rounds to the switch in the ground, pressing it, and I grin as wide as I can! “WOWIE! YOU COMPLETED THIS PUZZLE SO QUICKLY, AND AS WAS EXPECTED, WITHOUT MY HELP! YOU TRULY ARE SHAPING UP TO BE A SPECIAL SORT OF FOE!” The human covers his mouth, but catch that smile- how precious! He’s trying to be humble about the enjoyment of well earned praise! “YOU MUST CARE ABOUT PUZZLES LIKE I DO, MEANING THAT YOU ARE SURE TO LOVE THE NEXT PUZZLE! IT MIGHT EVEN BE TOO EASY FOR YOU!! BUT BEFORE ANYTHING, I MUST SAY THAT I NOTICED SOMETHING CONCERNING.”

The human looks confused, and his hand drops. The grip on his swords tightens- it must have been a nervous tick. I probably should have elaborated beforehand! “IT’S JUST THAT YOU LOOK VERY COLD OUT HERE, AND YOU DON’T HAVE MUCH FUR OR PROTECTIVE CLOTHING! BUT WORRY NOT, HUMAN, FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS COMES PREPARED!” I proudly bend down and show him the scarf, grinning. It seems to be befitting of him! After all, it matches his SOUL’s color!

“What- oh no dude, it’s not that cold.” He says, holding up his hands and keeping a straight face, as usual with him it seems. “I’m just not used to it, cause like, I come from the searing Texan heat and this is an all new ecosystem that I haven’t even gotten the chance to multiply and invade due to the lack of natural predators-”

“WHAT IS A TEXAN?” I inquire, tilting my head. Is it a place on the surface? A special way to describe heat? I honestly have no idea! But it sure does sound neat!

“Uh, never mind.” He says, and hesitantly takes the scarf out of my hands. He seems to like it a lot, and immediately wraps it around his bare neck, letting one long side of it dangle in front of the strange gear thingy on his sweater. Well, I couldn’t be happier! It is always gratifying to know when someone likes a gift, even if I, the Great Papyrus, am quite confident in my gift picking abilities! “Thanks. This helps.” He says simply and turns to walk away, no doubt wanting to march ever onward to the next puzzle! What a dedicated rapscallion!

“YOU ARE VERY WELCOME! NYEHEHEHEHE!” Then I walk quickly to where the next puzzle is- and Sans certainly came through with this one, bringing out Dr. Alphys’s latest invention! I even pass by him, where he makes some remark to the human and winks. It always is a good feeling, knowing that my brother is there to have my back, even now when most times I can find him snoozing instead of doing more important, necessary things such as making puzzles or putting away his socks! Or maintaining a strong DEFENSE. Or raising his HP… Really, my brother has been neglecting himself for quite a while. It is a lack of self care that I have attempted to talk to him about, but he nearly always brushes off my tender brotherly concerns! I cannot think of a single time where we did talk about it, and strangely, yesterday seems like years ago…

Speak of the skeleton in the closet- there he is! Walking from the direction of the snow-skeletons me and my brother have made. I thought that he was near the human, but it seems that he is instead taking another of his shortcuts. Which makes no sense considering that this puzzle is literally twenty feet from the last one, but I will let it go and not press at the moment. I will have to discuss stamina training of some kind for him after the human is well and truly captured.

And speak of  _ that _ skeleton in the closet- the human arrives! Again! It really isn’t that surprising a development, considering that I’ve seen the human arrive multiple times, but it is interesting to watch the way he walks, cautious, as if expecting an unexpected puzzle along the way. I haven’t a single doubt that with time and patience, this Dave human will become just as great a puzzle professional as myself! Or, well, at least as good as the CORE technicians. We always could use a few more of those, and I am sure that once I am part of the Royal Guard I will be able to visit him back at the castle to help him with this! If that is what he wants, of course- who knows what such a thoughtful, seemingly shy personality will want in the future. Especially since I am not entirely sure I know the Dave human as well as all that. Even I, the Great Papyrus, must have the time to fully understand what kind of people I am dealing with! That is simply part of the capturing process, I’m sure!

“HEY! IT’S THE HUMAN!” I inform my brother, just in case he’s forgotten since our introduction, “YOU’RE GONNA LOVE THIS PUZZLE! IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS! YOU SEE THESE TILES?!” I gesture out to the now mostly grayscale tiles, just in case it is a little difficult to see through the cool shades that seem close to falling off of his face. It is honestly hard to even see his face, now that the scarf is pulled up over his mouth and nose! If the untrained civilian eye were to see him, they may even mistake him for a monster, with the bone thin frame and the way he wore baggy clothing. I think that may be a little troublesome- after all, shouldn’t a human look more like a human, regardless of attire?

Dave speaks up, jostling myself from my absentminded revelries, “Yeah, I see them. I can see every single square inch of them, along with the machine over there- stuff’s clearer than if I had Legolas’s sight. ‘Dave, what do your elf eyes see’ ‘they see only the sickest of fires on the horizon and a puzzle that a ten year old could beat faster than animal crossing’ ‘but isn’t animal crossing something that takes a hell of a long time to complete’ ‘yeah that’s why the metaphor exists why do you think’- you know what, I’m gonna stop myself here before I dig my grave through the center of the Earth and end up in the Chinese bootleg Underground.”

It is strange to see the human having a conversation with himself, especially since some of it ends up exceedingly muffled due to the scarf, and I cannot help but find it slightly saddening! Alas! This poor human, needing to bring in imagined friends to back him up in comparisons that, admittedly do not make a lick of sense to me! Perhaps that is why I have not seen the human talk to me- perhaps it wasn’t a wariness because he was afraid of being harmed from a puzzle, but because he is unsure of how to approach me! Well, I will simply have to find a way to make it easier for him!

He likely will not know of this puzzle, so I will make it easier- rather than force him through the puzzle with no idea of what the tiles do, I will explain them! That way he may still apply that ever important critical thinking without having to hurt himself! “FANTASTIC!! BECAUSE ONCE I THROW THIS SWITCH… THEY WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE COLOR! EACH COLOR HAS A DIFFERENT FUNCTION! RED TILES ARE IMPASSABLE! YOU CANNOT WALK ON THEM! YELLOW TILES ARE ELECTRIC! THEY WILL ELECTROCUTE YOU! GREEN TILES ARE…” 

As I continue on with my explanation, I cannot help but realize that you must already know what I am talking about! So instead of hearing everything for a third or fourth time, ever omnipresent and perhaps omniscient audience, we’ll fast forward a moment for ease of accessibility! Once again I, the Great Papyrus, exercise my impeccable foresight!

Once I finish, I look to the human, attempting to parse a response. Unfortunately, I cannot tell much from his face- with everything that he’s wearing, it’s even harder than normal to see past such strange stoicism! When will the mystery end?! “DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!”

The human, bless his determined SOUL, says, “Hell yeah I am- I am all up in the understanding’s grill at a party in the dead of night, just knocking down personal space after some giggle water and way too many horderves. I became one with that Understanding sh- junk. I got this so hard that the bag is begging to have my stuff thrown in it.”

“GREAT!! THEN THERE’S ONE LAST THING!” I say, hand moving over to the switch. Then, I pause, because if there’s one thing that I, the Great Papyrus, am among many things, it is the master of suspense! “THIS PUZZLE…. IS ENTIRELY RANDOM!!!!!! WHEN I PULL THIS SWITCH, IT WILL MAKE A PUZZLE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!! NOT EVEN I WILL KNOW THE SOLUTION! NYEH HEH HEH! GET READY…!”

I throw the switch and watch the puzzle work.

The colors switch from tile to tile, each square lighting up against the snow in a million different shades and a million more possibilities! Just what will it land on? What will be the solution? I have not a clue! The human even seems increasingly nervous, practically shaking in his tiny shoes as he looks upon the vibrant puzzle that switches even more rapidly and strangely, configuring in odd ways in the blink of an eye! Finally it seems to be reaching an end, and I await with anticipation as finally, finally the puzzle is revealed!

A straight path of pink tiles with no obstacles is what greets the lot of us. We all stand around the puzzle, which randomized something truly disappointing, and deep in my SOUL there is a pang of guilt, for the human is not getting a challenge- they are getting a game for baby bones with color blindness to play.

 

_ IT WAS IN THAT MOMENT, DEAR AUDIENCE, WHEN I KNEW THAT I HAD IRREPARABLY FAILED THE HUMAN AND MOCKED HIS INTELLIGENCE. IN SHAME, I TWIRLED AWAY THROUGH THE SNOW, ATTEMPTING TO FIND A PLACE TO THINK. _

_ A PLACE TO THINK ABOUT A PUZZLE THAT WOULD TRULY TEST THE HUMAN’S CAPABILITIES TO THEIR LIMITS. _

_ THE ULTIMATE PUZZLE THAT WOULD ALLOW ME TO CAPTURE THE HUMAN FAIRLY! _

_ OH YES, I DO BELIEVE THAT I HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT TO DO! MY APOLOGIES, BUT I MUST LET YOU ALL GO FOR NOW. FEEL FREE TO COME BACK LATER FOR MORE IN DEPTH NARRATION FROM MYSELF, MASTER STORYTELLER PAPYRUS! _

_ THOUGH, PLEASE DO SO LATER. I WOULD LIKE THIS PUZZLE TO BE A SURPRISE! _

**_= = = > Reader: Respect Papyrus’s wishes and move on for now._ **

 

**_= = = > DAVE: Deal with your spirit guide_ **

Your name is now DAVE, and if this brat is your spirit guide, you want a goddamn refund.

You have never known anyone as pushy or talkative as this kid, in all sixteen years of your entire life, and you know about the existence of Kankri Vantas. This kid is goddamn eleven and half your original size, and yet they’ve got enough power in those nonexistent lungs to talk your goddamn ear off faster than Van Gogh would be able to get at them with a pair of scissors. For the last four hours and a half, all you’ve been hearing is an endless commentary on your adventure, especially when fighting monsters, and have had to deal with their tantrums as they try to move you and figure out they fucking can’t. 

So of course, because even though your body says ‘fresh out the womb and not so innocent’, your mind still says ‘John Hughes teenage rebellion is more than a phase it’s a state of being’ and that means you’ve been doing the exact opposite of what they tell you to do. 

When you were fighting the Lesser Dog, you continued to pet that furry goddamn canine until its neck extended up into the clouds (weird to see those, but it’s an underground place with snow, you guess that a weather system had to develop) and its playful growl sounded more like the distant engine of a jet plane. When you encountered a bunch of monsters and some slob named Jerry who Chara told you to ditch, you went up to that slimy weirdo and hugged the fuck out of it just to spite them. When you find strange lights around and they say that they’d fill you with determination, you flip them off and avoid them at all costs, no matter how much your body is screaming for some source of warmth.

You’re in a blizzard cold tundra, but you press on anyway, the newly acquired scarf providing some warmth. You weren’t exactly sure about that Papyrus guy at first, but he seems like a genuinely nice dude, if really goddamn ditsy in all the weirdest ways. He’s loud, which is weirdly comforting, and maybe a bit annoying, but he seems innocent enough. Next to Chara, the guy seems like a god damned saint in all his red caped, silly outfited glory.

Sure, you’ve dealt with bossiness and loudness and too much cursing (almost-cursing, in Chara’s case, which in your opinion is so much worse) in the past three years, but Karkat is different from Chara in ways that you’re not about to think when you can’t explain any sudden warmth on your face, out in the frozen forest.

Chara floats after you as you walk along the path, advising you again, “Just go past Sans, dang it- why do you always need to *talk* to him? He’s seen it, you know that- it’s so dangerous and of course you’re not even listening to me, because why in the heck would you be listening.” They cross their arms over their chest. “Frisk always listened to me.”

That’s another thing. For the past hour all you’ve been hearing about is some other kid, an actual eight year old from what you’re picking up. It’s all the same- “Frisk didn’t do that,” “Frisk would have just followed the trail through the maze instead of looking stupid while feeling out walls,” “Frisk could probably be the second coming of Christ and you’re basically Satan’s hellspawn from another ass dimension,” You added that last one, but still, that’s all you keep hearing; praise be to our Lord and Savior and Guardian Angel Frisk, and fuck you too Dave.

So of course because the formula is tried and true, you go immediately up to Sans and ask, “So was that all planned or was your brother doing a solid pirouette into the distance because I missed some part of the puzzle?”

“Nah, that was the puzzle- it’s all random, so you lucked out bucko.” Sans says, looking down at you in what you think is amusement. Still not sure, again, because you can’t tell shit. Which is weird, because his brother can express himself- his brother can do a ton of shit to show that he’s happy. Maybe that’s just because he can actually move his mouth. “Then again, though, I don’t know if you realized, but my brother has an interesting view on puzzles- like that pasta he left earlier. That wasn’t too bad for my brother. Since he started cooking lessons, he’s improved a lot. I bet if he keeps it up, next year he’ll even make something edible.”

You quirk an eyebrow up at him, “So wait- do you eat his food now?”

“Yeah.” He nods.”

“So why the hell aren’t you saying anything to him, like ‘bro, your cooking’s shit’?”

“Would you really want to look at that skeleton’s face and try telling him that his cooking doesn’t taste good?”

You can’t help but detect a slight menacing undertone, but you can’t be sure. You can never be sure what the fuck Sans means, and that makes him damn infuriating. But in a way that doesn’t actually affect you, like back in that shitty Texan apartment when you thought that all anger was shit beneath a cool dude’s notice. Still, he does bring up a damn good point. Papyrus is pretty damn proud of everything he does, like he’s poured his heart and soul into it. He’s so ready for everything that it’s a little weird to be around him, because he barely knows you and yet if you solve even one of his easily solved puzzles he starts praising you like the goddamn messiah or something. It’s damn embarrassing. Not for you, of course, but just. It must be embarrassing for him, to be so expressive and so bad at puzzle making that an apparent eight year old can get past. Poor guy- he seems like he’d be pretty easily heartbroken.

You think for a moment and say, “No. Not really.” 

“Exactly.” Sans says, seemingly appeased, and you move on. You shiver, and this time it definitely isn’t just from the way your back reacts whenever Sans so much as looks in a way that seems weird. It’s this damn cold. At first it was more or less like that time you went to the penguin exhibit at the zoo- cold, but not unbearable. You were even able to get through it without actually feeling any discomfort. 

But as time passes, things have just been getting colder. Sweat’s begun to cling to your skin like ice chips surrounding a Jack Frost display, and Jack Frost himself has moved from punching you in the goddamn gut to actively trying to kill you apparently. You still push through, because you have to make it to wherever you can find a Door to your friends, but that doesn’t make it any better. The air is stagnant down here because you’re fuck even knows how many miles underground and yet you still feel like your nose is close to freezing off. 

You just stuff your hands in your pants pockets, and keep going. You figured out before that you had something of a sylladex in this world, no matter how limited, so you stashed your sword there some time ago so that you could keep your fingers from freezing together.

“Frisk never was this cold.” 

You’re looking at the broken snow sculpture of a dog when Chara says this. You already talked to the sassy looking reindeer guy over there, so you know the story- some dog was trying to make a sculpture and kept failing. Kinda sad to see, really, but you gotta admire this mysterious artist’s tenacity. Especially since all its failures make even the shittiest .jpeg comics you can bang out look like the Mona Lisa in comparison, ramping up the ironic tragedy to eleven and making it possible to enjoy this work of art.

You turn and keep moving, figuring that’s what the kid wants, and go to the next puzzle as you say, “Yeah, well when you’re a cool guy like me, you gotta have that effect. This enchanted forest of bullshit may be the rightful home of my chill, but my chill’s long since ascended from this cold ever since becoming part of me. I’d say I’m cooler than Vanilla Ice, but that goes without saying.” 

“No- you idiot, that’s not what I mean!” 

“Language,” You mock as you slip on the ice and fall on your ass, giving you a jolt as you slide to the next x switch. You try to get up, but your shoes are not made for friction on ice, and this isn’t some shitty video game where ice puzzles suddenly give you professional skater levels of ice skating. “D-does your mother know that you kiss her ass with that mouth?” The cold shock sends your teeth chattering, but you ignore it and just proceed to finish the puzzle while sliding on your hands and knees so that you don’t fall off.

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Chara insists as you finally get to the switch, pressing it. A bridge opens up, and you take a moment to admire Papyrus’s dedication- what other skeletor cosplayer could claim to be so extra that they actually took away part of the ground and made it into a retractable bridge? Then you keep going, moving into the dark tunnel of trees without fear.

You can’t see, with the tall, thick mass of vegetation blocking the way of light (how the hell is there light down there anyway?) and the shades making impossible to see. You kinda trip forwards, unable to keep balance as Chara follows. You play innocent and say, “Well then, what the hell do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Chara asks, exasperated. You’re honestly just as exasperated as they are, but being as cool as you are, you don’t show it. “You’re freezing, Dave! You’re properly freezing! Frisk never got cold enough to start looking blue, and they came here to Snowdin Forest in shorts and sandals!”

“Praise fucking be,” You mutter sarcastically as Chara continues.

“Oh my god, will you just listen for once? Something is wrong, and you need to get to a save point, think about some inspiring stuff around you, and warm yourself up somehow! You can’t just keep going-”

“Hell fucking yes, I can keep going.” You say, maybe a little more forcefully than intended, but you’re cold and tired of this kid’s shit. “Shit doesn’t work like that- you don’t just become instantly warm from being determined enough to feel warm. Trust me, if it did, dying back on LOFAF would have been less of a goddamn torture and I coulda healed myself through the power of determination and witch tears.” You kinda let that slip, but oh well. You’ve gone back in time before, and Chara mentioned that this Frisk person died, so it must be normal here. Besides, they’re like ten and also fucking dead, so who cared what they thought about that? “Maybe you should think about the idea of this Frisk kid not being human.”

“They were, and they could get warm, dang it!” Chara still pushes, following after you as you move past a dog house. “Can you just set aside your pride or whatever for once- for  _ ONCE _ \- and actually listen to me?! You’re going to freeze to death at this rate! You aren’t going to keep going, Dave, do you understand me? I’m older than you, so you  _ have _ to listen!”

“Technically, I’m older than you, so let me tell you, from the bottom of my heart kiddo-” You look at Chara as gently as possible and say, in the kindest voice you can muster, “Fuck off. It’s not hard to do- just fuck right off and leave me alone, because I’m going to keep going.”

Chara makes a long, nearly screeching sound as they try to pull you back, but by that time you’re already facing off against the next guard- a giant ass dog in a mecha. Which is one of the weirdest fucking things you’ve ever thought about, but dammit, too late to think about that now. You’ve already seen talking dogs, married dogs, artist dogs and dogs with impossible necks, so this really doesn’t surprise you, anymore. You can’t even muster up much except the will to end this fight.

You’re so goddamn cold that you’re surprised that you’re not a popsicle yet.

You don’t really notice that the battle’s ended for a while after, thoughts too goddamn scattered to even remember what you did to gain this furry thing’s trust. Something like, it came up to you and you pet it until it was licking all over your face, as if trying to disarm you from doing anything more except continue cuddling it. Cuddling animals was supposed to help or something, right? Rose would know more about that than you, and she’d also probably know the reason why that little argument with the Bossy Shit back there was leaving you more drained than Shrek’s Swamp after his death so that it could be developed for real estate. 

You’re kind of feeling numb, mostly. Your fingers, despite being in your pockets, are numb. Your lips are starting to get numb, despite the scarf. Your ears are definitely numb. If Chara says anything else, you sure as fuck don’t know about it. You’re numb to their words. Maybe if your body becomes number too, you can stop feeling so fucking cold.   
  


 

You keep pressing forward, despite the ice clinging to your pants and legs, and despite the fact that your limbs have begun to slow down something fierce, as if Jack Frost was finishing the take over and is freezing your bones.

  
  
  


You have to keep moving. It’s the only thing you can do now

 

_ YOU THERE! I APOLOGIZE FOR INTERRUPTING YOU AT THIS VERY MOMENT, BUT IT IS COMPLETE! THE PUZZLE, THAT IS!! NOW THAT MY MAGNUM OPUS IS COMPLETE, I HAVE COME TO SERENADE YOU WITH MY INTERLUDE OF WORDS, MY WEAVING OF THE TAPESTRY OF A STORY!!  _

_ I BRING YOU- THE FINAL ACT OF THIS STORY, THE MOMENT WHEN I WILL FINALLY CAPTURE THE HUMAN! _

**_PAPYRUS: INTRODUCE THE HUMAN TO YOUR LATEST PROJECT_ **

Glady! In all the time I waited for the human to reach this bridge, I gathered everything I could to make it all the more challenging! A puzzle needs to be challenging to stump the Dave human, after all, and once he gets stumped by this one, I will swoop in and capture him! Then we all can sit and have the delicious pasta dinner I’ve prepared while waiting for Undyne to come and collect him! Both my first taste of my delicious pasta and the taste of victory will be sweet!!

Now that the human approaches along the dangerously swinging rope bridge, I cannot help but rattle slightly in anticipation! If my brother makes a comment about my rattling bones, of course, I will have to give him a stern talking to since I told him specifically that this puzzle is a Pun Free Zone, but not even a silly pun can ruin this! Though, there is something off.

The human’s walk is no longer cautious, which normally I would term as ‘good’! But not only is it seemingly not cautious, it appears as if the human is staggering forward, almost as if he is more dead than alive! Which is decidedly not good! I still cannot see his face, nor his expression, but the tips of his ears are tinted a dangerous blue which I am certain is not normal for humans! Even so, I shall press on! After all, perhaps the human was simply feeling blue after his last disappointment of a puzzle! 

I then make a mental note to go to the doctors, because Sans’s propensity for horrible jokes is beginning to spread. A tremendously awful affliction.

“HUMAN!” I call out to him when he’s halfway across, and he stops. It feels as if he’s staring very intently at me, which is a good thing! He will surely appreciate what I have accomplished here! “THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!”

At my signal my puzzle comes into view. It was a stretch to get these weapons from Undyne, but when she heard of my cause, she was very eager to allow me to use them all! A mace and spear and one of the dreaded dogs hangs above the remaining portion of the bridge, and below are the fires and canons and more spears!! Undyne sure did have a lot of extra spears lying around, but I digress! I await an answer from the human, or any kind of reaction, but the human is oddly silent. I no longer feel his gaze, but I have no idea where he’s looking, what with those sunglasses in the way! 

“WHEN I SAY THE WORD IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!!! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!!!”

I certainly feel his gaze now, and he’s staring at me, shivering there on the bridge, seemingly from cold. No, not from cold- he was shivering when he came here- at the sight of this puzzle, he’s begun to actually shake! I cannot see his face, or hear a word from him, but he takes a step back, and seemingly his nerves get the best of him! The Dave human does not in fact seem very fond at the sight of my puzzle in the slightest! Sans seems about to say something, and I hear the first few words- “That uh, doesn’t look very-”

And then the human sways to one side, then the next.

 

Then he collapses.

 

_ MY APOLOGIES AGAIN, BUT I MUST CUT THIS SHORT! THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE THAT’S JUST COME UP THAT REQUIRES MY FULL ATTENTION, SO THEREFORE, NOT ONLY CAN YOU NOT BE ME, BUT YOU CANNOT SEE THIS! _

_ I AM VERY SORRY. PERHAPS NEXT TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT. _

 

**_= = = > SANS: Explain what’s going on! What happened to Dave?!_ **

_ this much, i can do. _

Your name is SANS THE SKELETON, and now you’re sure that this kid isn’t the menace his LOVE makes him out to be. 

Dave feels fear. 

You saw it there, when he looked up at the mace and spears and silently watched them, taking a step back and shuddering deeply at even the thought of anything that Papyrus was describing. This is so off script that it makes something in your SOUL twist at how wrong it is, but it’s too late for that. Dave’s already proven that the script is meaningless now, and it shows that you were right. He must have come here for a reason, and it’s all pieced together as Papyrus hurriedly puts away the puzzle and moves to where the child lays, scooping him up. 

“SANS!” Your brother looks to you, uncertain and not knowing what the hell to do.  _ don’t look at me, _ you think,  _ i sure as fuck don’t know what i’m doing now.  _ “HE’S UNCONSCIOUS!! AND VERY, VERY COLD! I CAN’T CAPTURE HIM LIKE THIS, SO WHAT DO WE DO?!?!” 

Dave must not have had anyone who did this back on the surface, huh, you muse as you move back, calling over your shoulder. “We get him to Snowdin- let’s let him warm up at the Snowed Inn.” You keep calm, because you know your brother, and he certainly won’t. Not when someone he’s definitely come to like and admire just collapsed in a dead faint, suffering from some potent mix of malnutrition, cold, exhaustion and snow cold fear. That’s a lot for an eight year old to handle, especially on his own like that. Some determination he had.

Papyrus hurries after you, and you both tailbone it to Snowed Inn. You know that pun is phoned in and inappropriate, but humor is the best medicine for anything, even an apparent near death experience. 

Papyrus is the first one to burst in, opening the door politely with magic and hurriedly trying to explain to Bunilda what’s going on. “PLEASE, WE’D LIKE TO CHECK OUT A ROOM, FOR THIS CHILD! HE JUST COLLAPSED OUTSIDE AND HASN’T BEEN RESPONSIVE!” That’s the truth- Dave hasn’t moved a single muscle, not in a flinch, not in a twitch- he’s dead to the world. Bunilda’s paws fly to her mouth as she regards the boy still shivering, despite everything, and laying mostly limp in Papyrus’s grip.

“Oh, goodness me, this is a tragedy! He hasn’t… he didn’t fall down, did he?” She asks in a quavering voice, because it’s almost unheard of, for a child to fall down and die, but if that was true then that could mean the worst for her own little ones.

“No, no falling down.” You explain, leaning on the counter and shooting a phalange gun at her kid, who stays by his mother’s skirt. “He’s just cold, is all. When he gets a bed to warm up in and some food, I’m sure he’ll be right as rain. Does your sister still make those cinnamon bunnies, Bunilda? I’ll pay for the room and those.” There went the rent for next month, but you’d been thinking of getting another job anyway.

“Of course she still does,” Bunilda says, and calms down. Then, she holds out her arms. “Let me see him, alright? I know what to do about a little cold.” Papyrus immediately trusts this and hands Dave over to the monster, nodding. That’s another really cool thing about your bro- he knows when to back off and let the professionals do it, if it’s something serious. You have no doubt that if this were just a cold Papyrus would try to nurse the human himself, and the image is somewhat amusing as you take out a hundred gold and put it on the counter.

You wait as Bunilda fusses with the human and goes with them upstairs, calling for you to follow and for Papyrus to run and grab a dozen cinnamon bunnies. He’s taken to his own little hotel room, and the monster peels back his pants where now melted ice soaks through and the scarf. The sunglasses were set to the side, and it’s only then when you notice that your prediction was right. 

Scars litter the human’s legs, precise, as if from blades. They don’t look self inflicted.

Bunilda dresses him back up in warm pajamas, not commenting on the chest with a long, ugly gash scarred across it or the way Dave’s stomach was concave under his ribs, which you can see through his skin. He really does look more like a skeleton, and Bunilda even asks, “Is he your brother? I never knew you had two of them…”

“No, I’m not his brother.” You correct her as you watch Dave’s shivering let up. “But I’m sure the kid could’ve used one.”

You leave with Papyrus after Dave is tucked into bed, a plate of cinnamon bunnies sitting by his bedside along with the shades and his slowly drying clothes. 

Then, you wait by Grillby’s. 

Dave’s already broken the script enough times, so you figure that it’s your turn to shake things up. You think that it won’t rattle your bones as much, now that you’ve been sufficiently used to it. It’s about time that you and Dave have a talk.

You settle in to wait until the human wakes up.


	10. Part 9: The Chapter that Focuses Mainly on Establishing the Beginnings of Plot Threads and Character Arcs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an consistent update after only a month?? Whaaaat???
> 
> In all seriousness though, hello!! I must say, I'm not as fond as this chapter as others, and I'm trying out both my Kanaya and Dirk voices for the first time outside of roleplay, but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless!! I figured that the best way to finally give our second plotline some substance, we needed a little kick- a time limit. ;)
> 
> Next chapter is gonna be big though, and is aimed primarily at answering questions like "why does Frisk have a dreamself" and "souls??? in MY Homestuck? It's more likely than you think", and the chapter after THAT is gonna be equally big with the meeting with Gaster and the return of Papyrus narration!!
> 
> I hope y'all have a good day!
> 
> (also, on an unrelated note- if you post fanart, I'd love to see it! If it's on tumblr, be sure to tag it Understuck so I can have a look!)

**_= = = > DAVE: Wake up!_ **

You really don’t want to. You’re pretty comfortable wherever you are, and you really don’t want to be out in the cold.

**_= = = > DAVE: WAKE UP!!!!!_ **

Alright, alright, christ, you’re getting up. No need to shout. How the hell are you even hearing shouting? Isn’t this narrative command getting to you through some abstract medium?

Your name is DAVE, and you could have gone for a gentle, nice awaking, instead of the rude bullshit of psychological-and-other factors that generally plagued you leaving you to flail about in the sheets you’re under and shoot upright, as if the room around you was some Indiana Jones death trap that was already coming after you with flamethrowers and spears while you suspend precariously from a swinging bridge into the snowy abyss below

And you’re in a room. A pretty nice one, at that. There’s no bone or hair of those skeletons, no snow around you, and no horrific death trap straight out of your nightmares whirring with the sound of metal-on-metal gear action. The numbness from your limbs has retreated for now, and you once again find yourself taking a snooze in a bed, the covers pulled up over you with the love of some maternal, possible furry. This is starting to become a weirdly specific motif to your adventure, and you aren’t about to think too much about it. There’s the smell of cinnamon, which sends an arrow through your heart because that damn muscle is a useless piece of shit with annoyingly specific timing with its random heartburn. 

You take the covers off yourself and nearly balk at the fuzzy white pajamas on your person because what the fuck? You know for a goddamn fact that you were not wearing this earlier when you were out in the forest, and you know for a goddamn fact that you’re missing some pretty important eyewear that should be on your person. You find that on the bedside table, along with an entire plateful of cinnamon rolls with tiny white chocolate bunny ears, and your stomach rumbles something fierce, as if you haven’t eaten in years. Considering the body you’re in now, that could be true.

You don’t take much more time to question, whether because the atmosphere is doing some weird thing to your head like being in some alien simulation or whether because your eight year old body may legitimately have not eaten for days, you have no fucking idea. The first thing you do is shove a cinnamon roll thing in your mouth and start scarfing it down because fuck, if this is your last meal you may as well set the prison record for quickest last supper. 

You only slow down after like the fourth, when your stomach starts to get queasy. It immediately goes away, almost like magic, but it’s enough to signal ‘hey asshole, you’re jonesing to unleash the great flood of vomit and there’s no ark in sight’, and if there’s anything you’ve learned from this entire experience it’s to maybe slow down and listen to your shitty eight year old muscles.

With a chocolate ear in your mouth and a full stomach, you’re able to actually get a good look around the dimly lit room- it’s still nicely furnished, and the bed you’re in is absolutely enormous, emperor-wanting-a-terracotta-army-sized at least. Your clothes are neatly folded at the end of your bed, with the ribbon set on top and the sword set beside it; Chara is at the end of your bed, silently sitting with their arms crossed over their chest; there’s light coming in from the frost covered window

Wait a goddamn minute. Chara’s at the end of your bed, arms crossed over their chest, and they’re being so quiet that for a second there you just mentally checked them off as part of the natural scenery and not ‘annoying-as-hell-guide’. 

“It’s about time your stupid butt woke up.” They say, arms coming in tighter over their chest.

“I’ll say.” You mumble back, shoving half of that cinnamon thing in your mouth. You wait for a reply, but there’s nothing. They just stay sitting at the end of the bed, arms crossed over their chest and eyes staring pointedly at the window. You wait a few moments more after you get done, and a beat more after you shove the remaining cinnamon bunnies into your inventory, and there’s still nothing. Which is weird, considering the fact that they literally refused to shut their trap before, narrating your entire goings about the way a shitty golf commentator with a passive aggressive streak would. So eventually, as you start getting dressed in your regular clothes, you ask them, “So what the hell is your problem now? What’s with the- wait for it- cold shoulder?” 

They spare a glance in your direction just to glare at you for the pun and turn away, hunching in on themself. “You’d literally rather let yourself freeze to death than listen to a word I say! So I’m not talking to you anymore. Good luck, jerk.” And they still sit petulantly on the bed, doing absolutely nothing more as you move towards the door. You look at their back while they sulk and snort, shaking your head. 

“Really? What are you, twelve?” Well, technically this kid’s about that age, but whatever. “Come on dude, it’s really not that serious. So I almost froze to death- coulda been worse. I’ve been through worse.” You pause. They hunch in on themself tighter and say nothing. “So we’re actually doing this. Lemme guess- here’s the part where I tear up, a sob leaving my tender Southern throat as I wrap my arms around you, heart a-flutter with awe. ‘Oh darlin’, I’d say in my little Southern Belle voice, tryin’ to be cute to appease you, ‘I was so wrong to ignore some random ghost child who isn’t even right fifty percent of the time; you sure showed me, baby- now lemme hear the sweet sound of your shit talking’.” You pause, and there’s still nothing. Damn, this kid is determined to ignore you.

You shrug move out into the hallway, and hear nothing but the snores of some monsters in the room next door. For a moment, you feel maybe the slightest bit guilty for being an ass, but then decide that you may as well cut your losses. The guy was a demanding little shit anyway, and you have bigger fish to fry, like getting the fuck outta here and trying to find the door back to the outside of this universe, reuniting with your friends, and getting back to Regular Sized Dave.

The little white rabbit woman at the bottom of the stairs blocking your way may be a problem in that though.

“There you are!” She says in a voice that reminds you of a pitched up Southern belle like you’d find in Happy Tree Friends about to go slaughter something else. She looks innocent as anything too, in a little blue and yellow dress in some funky pattern that you think wouldn’t be out of place in some die hard fifties replica. Her eyes are closed, and her ears stick up like horns, and you wonder why in the fuck all the maternal figures you wake up to happen to be white furred furries.

“Yep, I sure am here. Don’t think I coulda been anywhere else- and I’d kinda like to leave now, if that’s okay,”

“Nonsense!” She says, and oh god you hope this isn’t Toriel all over again. You don’t think your heart could take it. Or it could, but it wouldn’t exactly be doing any good for your head health, which already has been screwed with by this entire ‘being in the body of a literal eight year old’ thing. “You only just got here, and it’d be a shame to let you leave Snowdin without having a tour!”

Oh so like, the town. She just meant that she wanted you to tour this little town, not keep you locked up in a nice hotel room to be her adopted kid. “Oh. Yeah, that’s what I meant. I wanna go out on the town, make it a real night of fun with the girls. You know, that sorta thing. Gotta keep all the guys waiting and watching, trying to get a good look at all of us in somethin’ less than our Sunday best- got on some tap shoes and a sparkly vest- gettin’ ready to work without any rest on a pol- I’ll stop.” You cut yourself off, even if the rhymes busting through your vocal chords are spitting enough fire to burn down this rabbit woman’s little inn, because you realize in seconds that this rap was going in a direction no eight year old should take a rap.

“Ah, I see,” The rabbit claps gently, an amused smile on her face as she steps aside. “In any case, small one, before you go out- wouldn’t you like a coat? Your sweater doesn’t seem to be doing you much good on its own…” 

It had been doing just fine at first, thank you very fucking much. It’s not your fault that like halfway through your journey your clothes started taking in the water that they should have been repelling and deciding to make itself into a nice little replica tear sweater. That’s a nice Spongebob reference, but you would have appreciated it more if it weren’t the dead of winter in this cave and you weren’t in the most fragile body that you’ve ever been in. 

You’re about to say something along those lines, but the rabbit woman just scampers away and quickly comes back with a puffy coat, and hell, that does look all hells of warm. Some white fur on the inside of the hood, a nice little zipper, some buttons at the bottom- and she explains, “See, Dr. Alphys invented some specialized clothes a little while back to let us travel throughout the Underground without needing to stop and change clothes! So right now it’s a warm winter coat, but if you unbutton these,” She unbuttons one of the buttons lining the bottom to demonstrate, and there’s a small  _ whoosh  _ as cool air rushes out. “Then it deflates, and all the air inside of it turns cool. I think the way she explained it, it’s like a portable igloo! You can even wear this in Hotland and keep cool or in Waterfall and keep yourself from getting wet. Besides- red seems to be your color!”

Well, you can’t exactly argue with the high tech coat and the earnest little look the rabbit woman gives you, so you suck up those oozing bits of suspicion and take the coat from her outstretched paws, shrugging it on. It makes you feel at least thirty times your size, and there’s cold air in this but you’re pretty warm inside. You probably look like Clifford the Big Red Dog’s ass tumor, but you can’t exactly complain, since this shit is comfortable as hell and you could probably figure out at least twenty different ways to weaponize this.

You don’t plan on hurting anyone, and the only reason you think about this is just in case. At least, that’s what you tell yourself- after all, even if a majority of the monsters down here seemed to be all sunshine and rainbows, that’s not going to hold true for everyone. At least a couple will give you problems if you  _ don’t defend yourself. Can’t be hurt if the fucker breathing down your neck has an unbreakable piece of shit through the chest. You’ll get this one day, Dave, and you’ll be fucking thanking me. _

You used to sometimes think he sounded whiny when he told you that, back when you were actually eight, but usually he set you straight pretty damn quickly.

The bunny lady claps her paws together softly, a big, bucktoothed smile on her face. “Awww, now you look positively precious in that! It should keep you plenty warm enough out there with your escort- speaking of that, he should be coming now.” She bends down, speaking so quickly that you can’t really get a word in edgewise as you kinda mentally skim over what she says.

“My name’s Bunilda- my sister, Rabisita, runs the shop right by here. Make sure to say thank you and check in with her- she was mighty worried when she heard about you, you know, and she made you the cinnamon bunnies!” Well hell, now you’re practically obligated to go. “Outside is your guide- we call him Kid, and he’s in the yellow and brown striped sweater. If you can, open doors for him please- the last time he tried to open the door he tried using his teeth, and got his tongue stuck…”

The little rabbit woman, Bunilda, chatters to you as she walks you the rest of the way to the door, as if that straight path from the stairs and out the door would be easy for you to get lost on. You know you’re literally eight, but Jesus. Finally, though, she lets you go without any kind of boss battle, waving gently. “Goodbye, Davey! Have fun with everyone- and if you need to rest up, you can come here any time!”

“Yeah- I’ll remember that.” You say for lack of anything better, and look around for your guide. What you see instead is Chara, sitting by some shiny spot where a box is laid in between the inn and the shop, arms still crossed over their chest as they sulkily stare at the snow. They look way too dejected, and if your shitty emotions would take a goddamn break for one second and stop throwing a knife through your chest, you might have wondered how they got out from the room without you noticing. Instead, your emotions are still things that exist, and they make absolutely everything supremely inconvenient for you by telling your legs to rebel and go towards the emo pre-teen.

You look down at them for a few seconds. They don’t look up at you, but acknowledge your presence by way of a derisive huff. With proper training and a living body, you think idly, Rose might have been able to train this little fucker into the ways of passive aggression. 

Your emotions once again remind you that they exist, because there’s a knot in your stomach about thinking about your sister, and now your stupid brain is entertaining two trains of thought at once-  _ God I hope my friends are alright they’re like the only people who can put up with my stupid ass _ and  _ this kid is an asshole, but them being sad is shitty because Reasons _ . The two trains of thought are on a rapid collision course, and before you can get the conductor in on that shit to get them and all its passengers to safety, they get in a massive trainwreck of nuclear sludge, mutating the entire carnage into the massive thought of  _ This kid is Dead and Has No Friends, and I need an outlet for Friendship _ .

Friendship. Truly the deadliest of plagues upon all species.

Apparently you don’t even need to say anything, because they suddenly look up at you, bursting out, “What do you want?! What in the  _ hell _ could you possibly want, staring at me like some goddamn weirdo with that  **face** ?!”

You didn’t even realize that you were staring for so long, or that apparently it had switched from general awkward settings all the way up to maximum, so you just kinda start talking and hope it covers shit. “You said that this shiny hallucination of bullshit is supposed to be a savepoint, right? Like some shitty RPG where the developers don’t even have the creativity to make saving part of the world, so instead of like a book or chest or something they just make it a thought bubble or whatever to save on costs.”

“... Yeah.” Chara says, squinting up at you. “What does that-- you know what? I don’t care. I don’t care! You can go ahead and do what you want, because you obviously don’t need  _ me _ to do anything, with you and that stupid same-neutral face and same-soul.” Then they turn back to the ground, leering at it all the more threateningly, as if they could melt it with hot needles alone. 

You place your hand on the shiny thing and… save, you guess. Your fingers, which had started to get cold, get warmer, and a little something wells up in your chest at the sight of this cute, friendly looking town. Every monster here is probably doing their entire deal, living their lives and dreaming their dreams, and you made this all with your friends. In some weird, cosmic way, this entire thing fills you with a little pride.  _ It fills you with  _ **_determination_ ** .

“See? I saved.”

Chara doesn’t look back at you. You wait for a few moments, then another beat longer. “So what, does this heal my health too? Like, could I have been making this entire warm and fuzzy pit stop all along instead of nearly coming down with hypothermia like a jackass trying to perform amatuer cryogenics?” Still no answer. They don’t seem to want to even acknowledge your presence. You wait another beat, and then there’s nothing.

You turn and start walking away. You make it past the inn when you hear them speak again. “You have the same soul.”

You face Chara again, and even though they haven’t changed position and are still looking at the ground, they seemed to have moved several feet behind you. “You and Frisk, you… have the same soul. You have the same face, too- when Frisk thought, or wasn’t talking to anyone- what am I saying, they didn’t  _ talk _ to anyone, they signed, like,” Chara makes the sign for the letter D. It would be so fucking easy to derail this entire thing, but for some reason, your usual witty sexual comedy doesn’t come out. You watch them try to sign something, but they’re doing it all wrong, and your fingers twitch in recognition.

You remember that when you were really young, you tried not to talk for some time. It was after you started training with Bro- whenever you could manage, you practiced signs from a book you salvaged from the trash, and tried your hand at not talking. Bro set you straight about that pretty quick.

You don’t know why, but watching this little punk with shitty pink dots on their cheeks try to emulate the symbols from that book, that some other brat you don’t even know apparently used to talk because  _ they _ got to be quiet and not fuck themselves over by saying anything incriminating or stupid but when  _ you _ tried it was stupid and you were stupid because all you were doing was waving your hands and fingers like a retard when you had perfectly functioning vocal cords to communicate with allies with that  _ wouldn’t have been hoarse or sore if you hadn’t thrown a tantrum and cried about a little training, dammit Dave, you know you can’t be like this out there, they’ll kill you in a  _ **_snap_ ** .

The sudden bitterness in your mouth doesn’t do anything for your mood. Neither does the ghost of Bro’s probably insane talking coming up from where he’d probably carved them in with his katana while you slept.

Thankfully, Chara gives up trying and keeps going. “That’s besides the point- you have the same expression, you and Frisk- the same soul. But you’re so different, and it’s infuriating! Why can’t you just listen for once to something that could help you? Why are you like this, all weird and- why can’t you even  _ eat _ right?! It’s--”   


“Maybe it’s because,” you say coolly, not willing to listen to this rant anymore. You’re all for listening to the kid and maybe making them feel better, but you don’t need to stand there and be berated, dammit. “I’m  _ not _ the Second fucking Coming of Jesus Frisk? Just because we just so happen to have actual living souls and just because we both don’t want to be constantly looking like we’re fucking constipated, and just because maybe we both know some stupid secret language for socially stunted, backward ass shits with functioning vocal cords, doesn’t mean we’re the same person, dammit. I’m Dave Strider, and I’ll never be anyone else, so you deal with it just like the rest of---”

“Uh, excuse me…?” 

You’re caught off guard, and the sword that you’d moved into your inventory immediately comes to hand, gripped tight in your fist. You don’t even realize it at first until you see the wide eyes of a little monster in front of you, a plump looking lizard in a striped sweater that doesn’t have any arms. Before you even process why the hell this Animal Crossing New Leaf DLC was there, he starts talking. “Ah… Ahahaha, oh, man, you kinda got me there dude! Yelling at nothing and waving around that thing, whew, you sure did catch me! But maaaaaan, that’s such a cool looking sword you have there!”

He grins at you, and you suddenly realize that you’d been so caught up in stupid shit that you completely forgot. Your guide. Some monster was supposed to give you the Grand Tour de Snowdin, and you blew him off to blow up at some kid comparing you to their love interest or something. You’re too drained and smothered by the cold around you to care. “Uh, yeah, that’s me- the ultimate trickster. The sword was a gift, so…”

“Oh man, you have a sword AND you play pranks?!” The monster- Kid, isn’t that what Bunilda called him?- continues on with excited eyes. “No wonder Sans wants to talk to you!! You kinda look like him too, with the coat and fur and stuff- except, I know you must be a kid like me, because it’s striped. Is he your brother or something?”

“No- my brother’s way cooler than that guy,” You say, but the words sound flat, even to you. You and the Monster Kid stand in silence for a few moments before suddenly your guide livens up, stomping in place for a moment.

“Oh man oh man!!! How could I forget! I was supposed to take you on a tour!”

It’s kinda like talking to a consort, you think idly- except this little guy could judge your every action, such as yelling at seeming thin air. “So wait, why did you come to see me in the first place?”

“Sans wants to have a chat! He’s over at Grilby’s, and it seemed pretty important!! If you want, I can wait?” Monster Kid is pretty considerate, all things considered, but the fact that Sans wants to have any kind of chat is pretty damn seedy. He’s a shady guy- you don’t trust him, and you’re sure he doesn’t trust you. 

You glance over at Chara, but they say coldly, “You’re Dave-  _ you _ deal with it.” 

“Sure, I’ll go talk to the guy.” You say, looking back over to the kid. Monster Kid nods and starts trotting ahead. 

“Here, I’ll show you the way! It’s just up the street…”

You have a distinctly bad feeling about this, but even with a sour taste in your mouth and a dumb stinging in your eyes, you move ahead towards the restaurant. Nothing short of a random shift in narrative tone could possibly keep you from spitting out all of your thoughts and perhaps your deepest, darkest secrets on what could be a death march to your destination. You half expect such a humorous tone shift to happen just to psyche people out, but of course, no such tone shift comes, and Monster Kid waits outside as you look to your executioner for the evening. 

“Heya, bucko- you doing a little better after thawing out?” Sans says, that ever present grin still in place. He acts easygoing, smiles, and his tone is casual as anything- but you still feel as if any moment he’ll break out the swords and start looking to gut you. 

“All things considered,” You say nonchalantly, not wanting to look as if you forgot your own chill for this cool guy convention like a chump at their first con, “pretty good. Even a little hungry, believe it or not- enough to have a prime rib on rye with a side of the rest of the horse that it came from.” You try to shove your hands deeper in your pockets as Sans snorts (read as: makes a snorting sound without moving his fucking mouth) and moves to open the door for you.

You walk through, stepping into a homey little place that smells like what you always imagined those little fake fast food diners on sitcoms would smell like- the way too nice looking ones that always have the main protagonists lounging around or working. There’s a bunch of food and people at each table, and there’s also a goddamn horse in the corner with anime shades. You don’t know why this particular monster catches your eye first, but it’s kind of hilarious, and if Dirk were around maybe he’d have the balls to go up to the guy and chat with him. Hello, how are you, isn’t it weird how you look like my brother’s fursona?

This amusing bit of information is enough to make you almost forget that you have a talk to be having with the skeleton currently elbowing you gently to nudge you along, and you immediately resume the closed off pose you’ve been maintaining this entire time. 

As you walk on through, the other monsters there greet you in an overly friendly small town way. There’s a dog playing poker in the corner that you recognize as the Lesser Dog, and he turns to you, neck stretching out a little as he barks happily. Some other bunny girl with maybe a little too much alcohol in her system says, “Hiya Sansy~” before taking one look at you and starting to tear up, muttering, “And hey to you too- you’re- you’re a strong lil’ guy, you know that? You done good, kiddo,” Did this Underground have Monster Alcohol? You guess there must be something everywhere, but you almost didn’t expect it down here.

The rest of the patrons greet you similarly, and when you sit down at the bar with Sans, the horse guy with the shades and blond mane looks over to you and nods, muttering something about ‘city slickers’ and some political thing. The bar itself is pretty damn clean, and the entire restaurant is toasty warm- though that could be the fact that the monster behind the counter is literally made out of fire making things that way.

You could really use some narrative tone shifting now. No such shift comes, and you’re forced to weather through it.

“So, what’re you in the mood for- burgers or fries?” Sans asks cordially. 

“A burger,” you say, glancing at the skeleton beside you. “But I wouldn’t mind fries too.”

“Alrighty- Hey Grilbz, can I get two orders of burg’ with an order of fries?” You wonder how in the fuck a skeleton can even eat, and for a while there’s silence between the two of you. Presumably your food is being made, and despite having literally just eaten, your stomach grumbles something fierce. It’s almost as if it’s literally trying to replenish itself. 

You wait a few moments before finally speaking up, because this waiting game isn’t doing anything good for your nervous system, “So are we actually gonna get into this or are we just gonna pretend to be on our twelve thousand word diner date au fanfiction?”

Sans hums for a moment, then says, “Now that I think about it, that’s not too bad of an idea- the silence was goddamn bone chilling.” You want to bang your head straight through this counter, right at this moment, “You’re one cold kid, you know that? Not really what I’m used to seeing. And I don’t really mean that in a bad way either.” He scratches at his hipbone for a moment, and you wonder why the fuck he needs to if he’s a skeleton and literally doesn’t feel anything on account of not having nerves. Or skin.

“Hey Dave- do you know what LOVE is?”

The question catches you off guard, and you can’t exactly say that it’s the Lost Frequencies song. Not when you know that one other monster in this goddamn Underground has mentioned it to you. “Not really- see, when I came down here, there was a talking flower,” Sans looks at you, still grinning like a goddamn buffoon, but you feel way too deeply unsettled by that grin. At least you have his damn attention. “That tried to kill me. He tried to say some piece about how my LOVE is high, and then tried to shoot me full of bullets like some swiss cheese in a shitty action movie parody.”

Sans is quiet for a few moments, and even though his face never moves, and his tone never shifts from that casual tone, he tells you, “LOVE is an acronym. It stands for Level of Violence.”

Your blood runs cold and then the flame monster comes back with your orders. Sans picks up the ketchup bottle and asks, “So, d’ya want ketchup on any of that?” You nod mutely.

“What the hell do you mean? Level of Violence?” You finally get out as Sans accidrntally dunks a shitton of ketchup on your fries. Joke’s on him, you like them this way. Your stomach is too queasy for the food now.

“Level of violence- LOVE- a way of expressing how much EXP you earn. Every time you kill anyone, you gain EXP- EXP stands for execution points. The higher your LOVE, the more you can distance yourself. The more you can hurt others without feeling any remorse.” How the hell could you have had a high LOVE, then? It’s not like you actively killed people. It’s not like you killed people. Just… imps. Not living monsters that wanted to kill you anyway.

You take a fry out the stack and your fingers are coated liberally in ketchup. It would be a lie to say that you didn’t kill people- in that final battle, you killed people. Three in a row, all lined up nice and pretty, and the first head to come off was your own goddamn brother’s. Your fingers were covered in red then, too.

Apparently Sans takes your silence as reason to talk, and he suddenly shifts gears. “Dave, do you think that anyone could be a good person? That if anyone were to just try, they could be good?”

Did you think anyone could be a good person? Could anyone be a good person like John, who was always so damn excited by literally anything, or like Karkat, who was so damn loyal and ready to do everything in his power to help his friends, or even Rose? Could anyone be like that? 

You remember that your Bro used to scoff whenever you tried to tell him things like this. Whenever you brought up morality like you saw in movies, or like your teachers said. He scoffed, or else he took you to the roof when you were doubting and put a sword in your hands. You know he was a literal piece of shit, now. You know that you lied to that kid earlier, saying you had a cool brother, because you don’t. Because your brother smashed your head against the hot concrete of an apartment building’s roof and gave you a concussion when you were seven, and because you had to leave school to nurse a broken arm at home when you were twelve, and because no matter how much you goddamn tried to get on his level he never wanted to try and be better.

“No.” 

You feel as if the answer to that should be more complicated, but you can’t really think in complicated sentences right then. Your fingers clench a little too hard, and Sans just keeps looking at you with that unmoving goddamn grin. His face isn’t even neutral like your brother’s, but somehow, the smile is even worse. “Shame of you to think that.” Sans says cordially, in a way too friendly way, and you want to smash  _ his _ head against the floor so you don’t have to listen to him anymore.

For a moment longer, you’re both silent, and then he stands. You wipe your hands off on a napkin and look at your food, trying to rein yourself in because wow, way to be fucking emo. Then Sans says a friendly little good bye, saying something like, “I’m glad you’re feeling better- go easy on Pap when you see him.” before joking with Grillby about the tab.

You feel as if there’s been some shift in narrative, but you don’t know what the hell to make of it. Everything’s far too wrong, and now here you are, sulking in a dim bar with a literal fire man in front of you to keep you company.

God, just what in the hell is wrong with you today?

**_= = = > KANAYA: Spend time with your loving girlsprit-matefriend_ **

Gladly.

Your name is KANAYA MARYAM, and you for one are rather indifferent to sudden changes in narrative tone. For the most part, you’ve been focused on several things over the last twelve hours- getting Rose to actually put sustenance into her human bodily system, giving her a comfortable place to sit down, catching up with Jade about the state of the Door, generally trying to calm everyone’s shit and get Gamzee squared away too- all things in which you have been diligently pursuing while everything’s unfolded in the bubbles.

You don’t know much. Aradia has reported in with the Frisk human that Terezi and Vriska are on the case whilst Roxy is working on finding some mysterious entity. Calliope has gone to sleep, by then, leaving you all short a Seer. Rose is frustrated, and you literally had to chase several of the remaining humans away to keep them from breaking your matesprit’s concentration.

Needless to say, in this world of the awake and living, the lot of you are tired as hell.

It’s hectic in dreams and hectic outside the door, and there you sit on a pile of cushions. It’s not as solid as you would have liked, but humans are far more fragile than your species and the thought of even accidentally hurting your girlfriend with an accidental book corner jabbing does funny things deep in your solar enhanced cardiovascular chamber, despite the fact that you and she are both very well aware that you could kick each other’s asses to kingdom come.

In front of you Rose sits on the same pile, the same far away look to her eyes as the previous hour every time you deigned to check. She’s barely moved, searching through any possible information that she can glean from the reports of others doing important work. There’s a draft, and you swear to God if that’s John about to ask you if you know when the human child will be free from Karkat’s hold, you’re going to probably eat an article of clothing that you spent enough time on (which would likely be more spicy than you could handle considering your tastes) but no such interaction comes.

“Time itself is collapsing.”

You’re startled from your vigilance when Rose suddenly speaks, eyes blinking clearly for the first time in over an hour. If your darling hadn’t just suckered you with a hefty kick to the shame globes with her statement, you might have been able to feel relieved that you could finally move your appendages, even if it was over the short distance to wrap your arms around her. The weight of what was just said sinks down heavily for a few moments, and Rose turns to you, slightly dazed. 

You shuffle your body closer and lean over, as if curling over her would defend her from… what? The infinite burden of knowledge? The strange emotions that came when the camaraderie shared with a human ‘brother’ was torn away with a strangely skeletal hand? The fact that these throw pillows are structurally unsound for a pile and the fact that inevitably some creepy crawly strangeness would rise from the depths of the void to proclaim one Rose Lalonde as the true Bride of the Horrorterrors? You don’t know. But she is strangely still in your hold, and you know that whatever she’s Seen, she has to process it.

You don’t want to speak, in case it breaks whatever has its hold on Rose, but eventually she offers up an explanation of her earlier cryptic statement to break the silence. Unfortunately, it all ends up being more cryptic. “It’s not collapsing all at once, or all too quickly- but it’s beginning a collapse. The timelines have begun to converge, we know that.”

“Yes, we do know that,” You gently corroborate, “Aradia said that Terezi found a dreamself of John from a different time- a time before Prospit collapsed. A time before that John had ever died.” That dreamself was only dead now because of the other Frisk.

“It starts with dreams, always dreams,” Rose mutters, pushing her face into your shoulder. The fabric of your shirt is thankfully thin enough to not muffle Rose all too much. “It begins with the bubbles where the place where the lines between universes and timelines are thinnest. Then it spreads, like a cancer, outwards. Timelines tangle up, into a tighter and tighter knot until…”

“It’s all suffocated.” You finish, and it’s a troubling development. It’s a development you don’t fully understand. 

“Your universe didn’t immediately collapse upon your entering into the Furthest Ring. Universes don’t just collapse, and now this place, where time and space don’t play by the same rules, is beginning to collapse. Having them was needed- a Maid of Time, a Knight of Time, a Witch and Muse of Space- but take out one of the four pillars and everything begins to tangle. There is no Knight for Time. Time can’t be protected.”

Rose begins to breathe heavily somewhere in that, gripping onto the fraying edges of your shirt, and it’s all you can do to squeeze her close. You don’t know exactly what she’s saying, but whatever is happening, it isn’t good. She mumbles a little more, voice so quiet you can only make out syllables sticking to her throat like nut based spread, syllables you don’t understand. Then she says decisively, “They’ve begun speaking to me again- the horrorterrors, I mean. It’s less like ‘speaking’ and more like ‘screaming until my goddamn ears are on the verge of bursting’. They don’t want to die, Kanaya- no one wants to die.”

There’s a few more mumbles before she gets out, “They’re telling me that there’s a damned time limit on this Void, and if we want into our prize, we better find the means to expand that time limit or get in immediately. If we can’t get through the Door...”

She doesn’t finish, but she doesn’t need to. The implication hangs heavily in the air like saliva sticking to the roof of your mouth. Things are, for lack of better term, completely fucked.

Rose slumps against you and you begin making plans. There are many assets around that you aren’t mobilizing, and if you have a time limit, then that means that you need to prioritize monitoring the situation and getting in contact with people to help make plans with you and Rose. Your matesprit is exhausted, though, so you don’t tell her about the small outlined plan that you have in your head, instead stroking a hand down her back and chittering to her. You remember, somewhat humorously, how surprised she had been when she heard you chitter the first time in frustration- in her words, ‘I thought you were based on a moth, and what in the hell do you mean that those furry little hellspawns make noise? Woe be to any who gaze upon the fluttering wrath of the terrifying, tittering moth’

You know she was joking in that strange little way, and it brings you a little smile and something else to think about when the weight of the world outside threatens to break into this place. You cradle Rose even as she calms down, collects herself, and starts pulling away. You shush her just as soon as she begins chattering about plans, and pull her down to rest in your lap. There’s a time limit, so the most you do is give her the objective to not go into the bubbles while she rests- “Don’t you dare go fully to sleep, Rose, or I’ll go to sleep too and then we’d have to fight on multiple planes of consciousness.” You echo a long distant order, smiling at the small inside joke that maybe you’d let Rose in on once everything was over.

She relaxes, soon enough, and this is some of your favorite time, despite everything. You scratch your claws lightly along her scalp, and she presses into it, curling herself up on the pile as if protecting herself. You know for a fact that she can and will fight- it seems to have been imbedded into her very genome and manifested at an early age, coming out the human womb ready to take on the world clawing and hissing the entire way. But even then, it doesn’t stop the fact that she looks soft and vulnerable now, and it doesn’t stop the equal protective instinct welling up inside of you.

You gently slip your hands under her head and begin the process of shimmying your way out the pile. It’s a rather humorous sight, and if anyone were to walk in at the exact moment when you’re crab walking backwards with your body twisted to cushion your girlfriend’s head in between your legs, you would have descended upon them like a flying scream mammal the moment you were freed. Thankfully, no one comes, and no one will ever know that just as soon as you had Rose on the cushions, not quite in deep sleep but deep enough to rest, you almost slipped on a wayward clump of torn up novels that you must have thrown in by mistake.

You quickly hide the offending articles underneath Rose’s side of the blankets, where it bulges strangely. No one will be the wiser. Except, perhaps, for literally anyone looking into the room at this moment.

Look, you never said you were the best at hiding shit. 

But what you are good at is planning, and frankly, you have quite a bit of that to be doing right then. The first thing you need now is some indication on what in the hell is going on with Roxy and for some new questions to be sent to the Alternate Calliope about time itself. You can’t exactly wake Roxy up now, lest she is already in that meeting and have to start the search all over again. You know the trope- just as soon as some pertinent information would be freely given, the person is pulled away before they can hear.

Well, thankfully you have a couple of candidates for messenger, and you set out for a long process of weighing the pros and cons, and whether that candidate is needed elsewhere.

**_= = = > DIRK: Be literally the first person to be asked about being messenger_ **

Your name is DIRK STRIDER- you don’t believe in random shit to preface who you are since you know for a goddamn fact what kind of piece of shit you are even with all your splinters making your life one big hullabaloo of some quirky Netflix dramedy about having split personalities that come to life just to beat the shit out of each other- and finally, you have something to do.

Shit out here has been slightly hectic. Rose’s been what may as well have been comatose for the last few hours with her alien girlfriend acting as guard dog to chew out whatever tasty piece of meat decided to walk in and try to have anything to do with her girl, and you’re getting a metaphor crossed with another somewhere in the middle of that. Roxy and two of those trolls are out in the bubbles, doing something, while Jade’s asleep and John is just hanging around Jane and Jake, nervously bouncing with energy because this is the exact last thing that anyone expected.

It just didn’t seem feasible for Sburb to throw out anything more that could possibly be any more shitty, but it had happened, and now their reward was being torn out their grasp like the unique ending promised everyone at the end of a massive game that ended up just all being the same thing, reducing a franchise about choice and doing shit into another ‘fate is inevitable’ narrative that you should be used to, considering the fact that your entire life is one long cycle of inevitability, but somehow Sburb found a way to be even shittier than first conceived to ever be possible. Now this goddamn plot rolls out of nowhere, where Dave is for some bizarre reason switched out with a kid.

You’re still not entirely sure how to react to that kid, honestly. You’re pretty sure they woke up a while ago and were dumped onto that shouty troll (Karkat? Dave mentioned the guy way too much all at once, almost like he was in love with the guy- which he could be, Dirk couldn’t judge a man on his tastes), and it still feels slightly unreal. Not only is this the first real, live human child you’ve ever encountered, but they seemed to have been sent here in place of your… technical son. Dave’s related to you and all, but you really don’t know the guy too well yet.

Still, even if you don’t know the guy, and even if looking at the tiny fleshy goblin left in his place makes you feel kind of nauseous (because how in the Hell was anyone, much less people like you or your friends, ever that small or silent?), you know what needs to happen. You all need Dave back, and you all need to send this child home.

The fact that you can’t do shit is maddening. It feels like there’s a sea of bullshit there, and even if you don’t want to dive in and get all that crap everywhere you know you have to because it has everything everyone needs buried underneath the shit tsunami and instead of being able to get it over with, you’ve been told to teeter on the edge of the twenty foot tall diving board balanced on the littlest toe of your right foot. Eager to get in and get everything done, no matter how shitty and unpleasant, but still not able to do anything except sit down and wait, sitting at the edge of the talk circle where John haltingly talked to Jake about movies and Jane made grand stories about how splendorous the synopses were despite all the movies attached being worth maybe some pocket lint and a penny.

Then Kanaya approaches you and the first words out of her mouth are, “I need you to go to sleep and go looking for Roxy- some disturbing things have come to light.”

Fucking finally. Something to do except sit there and talk about how hunky dory the weather is in the weatherless Furthest Ring. Maybe you could actually get the inside scoop on what was going on with this entire Dave situation and see if you could do anything on your own. You nod and turn to look at Kanaya, who hands you a list of questions before looking to those in the group. “Hm, if you find Jade in the bubbles, Dirk, tell her to go to Vriska and Terezi. See where they are in their investigation. Do you have a preferred method of falling asleep, because I’m afraid that we’re a rather pressed for time…”

“I generally just kinda close my eyes and wait.” This probably won’t help though, and you’re looking for anything to knock you straight over the edge by this point, so you say with a totally straight face, “That shit normally takes hours though, so I’d need someone to knock me out. Do you got anything blunt around?”

“I- what.” Kanaya looks at you flatly, an unreadable expression on her grey face for a moment before Jake speaks up. 

“I really don’t think that kind of rough treatment would really be necessary- there are plenty of ways to get to sleep!” Jake, bless his goddamn heart, is kind of not looking at you and is also speaking warily. You don’t blame him. “We could alchemize pills, or there’s always watching a movie until you fall asleep…”

“Warm milk helps me the best!” Jane helpfully supplies, smiling at Dirk fully. “That, and reading, though the kinds of things you might find boring may be a little different- can’t exactly give you all the numbers of pi to memorize.”

“Already have them memorized to the eighty-sixth digit.” You mutter, because when you live alone in the apocalypse and your only method of learning how to speak is through watching shitty videos on YouTube of your ancestor/brother/son talk in a flat Texan accent to the press, one of the best ways to pass the time is to learn pronouncing something like numbers. Still, she’s right- not much actually manages to bore you, unless it’s rules being recited at the slowest pace imaginable.

“We don’t have any sleepy stardust or whatever, right?” John asks, eyebrows furrowing as he bites his lip.

“No, and we don’t have the time to figure out the best way to get me to sleep- so the way I figure it, you just make like Shia Labeouf and just do it. Knock me the fuck out. Maybe if we’re lucky it’ll be enough for a third decapitation, because all this has gone pear shaped, and there’s no other way.”

The alien, to her credit, attempts to persuade you otherwise. “Now, I don’t think-”

“No,” You say immediately, cool facade still in place even as you’re about ready to fidget your way to the bowels of this ship, “I am telling you man, this is all a-okay. This is all alright. If this were any more okay, we’d have John Green resurrect from the dead to write a novelization of it. If this shit is serious and has a time limit on it, there’s no chance to wait, is there?”

Kanaya sighs, and balls up one fist. You really don’t know how that’s supposed to help. These aliens aren’t really strong enough to knock people out with a punch, right? The alien with muscular arms that could probably crush watermelons on sheer virtue of existing says, “ _ If you insist _ .” 

You don’t even have time to react before the fist comes down on your head in a really specific, weird spot, and you’re out like a light..

**_= = = > FRISK: Observe this carefully_ **

Your name is FRISK, and you regard the scene of the one alien lady knocking out one of the humans with one punch alone. Beside you, one of the other trolls winces in sympathy and rubs his own head in the same place.

At least, you think Karkat winces in sympathy- he could just be wincing in general. From what you’ve gathered, he tends to make a lot of faces, as if he’s constantly chewing on lemon pieces and keeps getting the super super sour sour ones. You don’t really know him well, other than the fact that he seemed to like physical contact, and he looks down at you with the stink eye and says, “So why the hell are we here eavesdropping like a couple of cullable rebels instead of going over there and actually being a part of this plan to save Dave?”

You write down, / _ Because they won’t let me help, and I don’t think that they will let you or the others help much either- Kanaya doesn’t seem to want to do much right now./ _ Which makes sense, considering the fact that they really don’t know even the half of what’s going on or even if the time limit expired in hours or days or weeks or years.

The quicker everyone speeds up this investigation with Gaster, the faster that you can go back and do your rerun of the Underground.

“You’re a wriggler- you wouldn’t be able to help much in the first place,” Karkat points out to you bluntly, looking down at you with an unimpressed look on his face. You don’t look like much- you’re a little small for your age, and you’re chubby, so you look too soft to really be much of a threat. Napstablook said that you’re shaped like a friend, which was very nice of them, and you figure that’s helped you in your quest to befriend everyone. “So look, I’m gonna go out and-”

You immediately tug on the bottom of his sweater, waving a hand urgently and gesturing down to your notepad. After you’d woken up, you found it beside you and Roxy, along with a lot of colored pens and a message in grey inside;  _ enjoy this little gift from Us! ^U^ _ It’s certainly come in handy so far, and you quickly write down, / _ Gaster speaks in hands. Sign language. You guys don’t know sign language, do you? And even if they do let you do something, what if they won’t let you do anything important, like looking at Gaster and all? He’s the key, Karkat./ _

The troll hesitates, looks over the pad with a furrowed brow and lets out a little huff of a breath. “Jesus kid, what the hell is with you and bargaining for this? What do you think this is, ninety percent off at Cull-Mart brand blood sucking grub-mart where you can get some shitty painting made with the blood of a lowbloods for a Caegar?” You have absolutely no idea what Karkat just said.

/ _ You don’t know sign language, so you need me./  _ You insist, and he shakes his head.  

“Fuck, I guess you got me there. But yet again, why not let Kanaya and them handle that? I mean, shit, Rose could probably know what sign language means, being Seer of Light or whatever, since the Gift of Gab is shitty and apparently only applies when that gabbing is out loud.” Still clueless about what’s going on, you nod as if you understand.

/ _ Because you guys said she’s a Seer, right? What if she needs to see something? If she’s busy translating, she’s not free to see if that time limit is up. And what if the others are needed for things? They have powers, right?/ _ Aradia had told you about some of it, and before you played pirates Vriska bragged about being the luckiest person in the entire universe! Or, paradox space, but you’re pretty sure she meant universe. You can’t fathom there being anything bigger than that.

Karkat looks over the words and chews on his lip for a moment, and then sighs, “Fine. Okay, we’ll go see what the deal is with this skeletal fuck. But before anything, you need to leave a note for Kanaya, and we’re gonna make sure that we tell someone else too so that we don’t get our asses eternally lost or killed or whatever in these bubbles- hell, I don’t even know what happens to you in there. With players, they just wake up, but…”

That’s another thing you heard. All these people played a game of some sort, and then they’re able to go into the dreambubbles. You don’t think you’ve played any sort of game like this, though, so you don’t know why you wake up in those places- or why you have your own bubbles. Maybe there’s something else, though, that someone somewhere knows about you and this game that no one else does- and you’re willing to bet that it’s Gaster. Or maybe even that Alternate Calliope figure that Roxy had been talking about.

/ _ I’ll go ahead and start writing them now./ _ You say instead of dwelling too much on it. For right now, it just makes things convenient and easy for you to deal with so the way you figure it, you may as well not question it. There are just some things you don’t question, like dog guards, or narrative psyche outs, or underground weather systems or dreambubbles.

The thought of all these amazing things, though, along with the thought that you’ll be doing something worthwhile to help everyone there fills you with  **determination.**


	11. Part 10: The One that Focuses Only On the Homestuck Side of Things Except Everything is Off and Answers Are Finally Given

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaaa I am so sorry for the wait!! I ended up having to use spring break for homework and studying, haha, so I didn't have much time to write this, and this isn't as long as other chapters, but I will admit, it was a lot of fun to write!! Now that I got Dirk down, it's awesome! Stick around to the end for some final answers on some things that you've all wanted to know!

**_= = = > DIRK: Try not to lose your head about these things._ **

Your name is DIRK, and oh haha, that’s a good one, disembodied narration. You are practically splitting at the seams from that joke despite the unfortunate lack of self deprecation or gruesome tone. So really you would rate that decapitation joke a good three out of five, could have used more explicit words to describe how much you literally want to die.

Unfortunate low key suicidal tendencies aside, there’s not really much to be losing your head about this time. The handle is at a cool zero degrees Kelvin with the threat of liquid nitrogen fresh from the cryogenics lab on the way, and you couldn’t jump off of it even if you wanted to, and you’ve yet to do anything that mind numbingly horrific that you deserve the old Red Queen prescription, so you’d say that everything is peachy. Not peachy keen, because that thaws that handle a slight bit, but everything is alright for now. 

Well, it would be alright, if only you weren’t wandering these shitty bubbles alone with only your thoughts to echo ceaselessly back at you because that’s just what you need. More time with your thoughts echoing back at you. At least this time it’s just your thoughts and not some manually made splinter that you created for the express purpose of throwing your thoughts back at you with the precision of a heat seeking boomerang.

You float from one bubble to the next, trading out sandy beaches and more water that burns your fucking eyes to look at for an apartment that reminds you of something, but you’re not exactly sure what. 

It’s just dead air inside of the place. The blinds are closed, and even if you could see out of them you’re pretty sure you know that you’ll just get black or another bubble for some reason floating adjacent to this one. Your apartment never had blinds. For the most part, you just let the light in as it would and even if it didn’t get in through the window it sure as hell got in through the places where walls had caved in long ago. To be fair, your building had aged pretty damn well for four hundred years. Construction workers hate it- find the secrets to immortality here. There’s probably more to that old meme, but you let it die and think for a second, hey, this is even more eerie than you thought.

Things that feel nostalgic to you are already eerie enough, mostly because it’s so fucking off to think that you have anything to be  _ nostalgic _ about. Most people’s nostalgia is about old shows or Grandma’s cooking, and your nostalgia is hanging over the ocean trying to repair something at the age of seven because it could cause a massive structural break, or playing with dusty old toys already falling apart from an ancestor that you used to pretend was your big brother because hallucinating helped with literally being isolated from every sentient thing for sixteen years.

This is eerie in another sense, though. It’s all nostalgic, and maybe you should recognize the duct tape on the window or the wires everywhere, but it’s also really fucking still. There’s no errant ocean breezes from the bubble you just came in from. No bit of sound from something switching on. Everything’s stiller than that corpse from Nekromantik in a museum of adult toys. You sit down on the bed to see if anything happens, but not even the sheets under you shift, as if everything’s secretly covered with reinforced plastic. If that isn’t weird enough, when you try the door that got you in here, you can’t actually leave.

Well, damn. That’s definitely something that’ll hinder you for a bit. 

You get up and see if you can go out the window, except you nearly have a heart attack looking outside because holy fuck is that a lot of buildings. Normally this wouldn’t be all too weird and you’d be chiller than a beer losing that heat for the guys, but you swear that you can make out human shapes in the windows below you, and pavement with cars and shit. It startles you and your suddenly way too jumpy ass enough that you let the blinds close.

As they do, though, the light catches on a photo hanging up that’s a little more vividly colored than anything else in the room. You hadn’t even noticed how weird and dull everything was until that caught your eye, and you reach up to yank it down. This time, the photograph moves like it ought to instead of being melodramatic and acting like his entire body is made up of concentrated gorgon juices, and he can see what’s in it. It’s a picture of a much younger Dave, looking pretty fucking malnourished, smirking and holding up a katana that looks way too much like yours.

The fingers on your left hand twitch involuntarily, as if trying to draw that weapon, before the door swings open and you can take any time to even process what the hell is going on.

“Huh. So it’s the same heeeeeeeere, too.”  

It’s that one bitch, the troll with the weird eye who looks like she belongs in Troll Mean Girls. You think you’ve had maybe one entire conversation with her, and in that conversation you maybe got one word in before the hurricane force of her ego gave you whiplash. Pretty much as soon as Dave was taken, she started taking charge and directing everyone from the ship before coming here to the bubbles herself, probably to stoke that ego a bit more for the irons to be thrown in.

You don’t know how your katana (or, the half that survived anyway) got in your hand and you sure as hell don’t know how the hell you haven’t nearly attacked her yet with how sudden that intrusion was, but you look to her before saying, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but I’m willing to bet that it has to do with this fairytale shit.”

“Well would you look at that! You’re not as slow on the uptake as your human Bro!!!!!!!!” She says, smiling as your poker face does nothing to hide the twitch in your sword hand. “You got that right- Derek? Whatever. Basically, me and Terezi just happened to fiiiiiiiind that basically any bubble with a place from Dave’s memories is stone frozen like this. The only one that was moving was LOHAC, and even that one was starting to freeze!” 

“Weird, but I guess I can understand.” Dave isn’t here right now, so there’s probably some weird soul shit going on. Explains why you’re feeling so weird about this place in particular, then- you may have only had these powers for like a day, but you figure that a lot of matters of the Heart are your entire domain. “Where is that gremlin anyway? Since Jade isn’t here, I figure that I may as well tell you both the news in person.”

Vriska raises an eyebrow, “We split up- found some really weird stuff earlier, so Terezi and I are looking into that, and I figured we’d find it in places like this!”

“Well that’s exceedingly helpful and not at all a vague invitation that’s the equivalent of throwing an elaborate party and inviting everyone with the hope that your lifelong crush comes.” You say dryly, your throat positively parched after that, “But it’s not as if Kanaya was any better. All she said was that some disturbing things came to light and that Jade needed to go to you to get all the details on where the fuck you are in this entire investigation. If you don’t mind passing that along to her and your better half, I’ll be moving along. D’ya mind holding open the door?”

Vriska looks at you strangely after that last bit as she says with a scoff, “Whyyyyyyyy? Too busy to open your own damn doors?”

“No- this bubble just isn’t letting me the fuck out otherwise.” You say with a steady tone as you move to brush past her. She stops you, pulling on the front of your shirt and furrowing her eyebrows.

“Hey, now you wait a damn second- what the hell do you mean the bubble won’t let you leave? We’ve been able to get the hell out!” Your eyebrows raise at that, because damn, that is one weird thing then. Why in the hell isn’t this place letting you go? You both have a stare down for a few moments, looking each other in the eyes before she finally lets go of you and moves out of the way, presumably because she sees you have no goddamn clue, and you start walking away.

Hey wait a moment. You still have that picture.

As the door swings shut behind you and you step onto the sand of that damnable oceanic viewed beach, you look back down to the photo in your hand. It’s a little crumpled now, but it shows the same thing- a younger Dave, malnourished and with a couple bandages on his cheek and all up his arm now that you look at it, holding what looks like your sword almost triumphantly. At least, you think it’s triumph. You can’t see much of his face beyond the shades and bandages and plastered on smirk.

You don’t know Dave; you know iterations and stories of him, and you know what he looks like through videos and pictures like this one, but you don’t know this Dave, drowning in his clothes and looking too cut up from a long fall down some shitty stairs from someone you do know all too fucking well. You hope to God you don’t have to see him.

You do want to get to know this Dave, though. You can’t exactly do that now, but maybe after all this is over and you actually make it to your universe. But before any of that can happen, you have to actually get him back.

So you put the picture in your pocket and move on, not realizing that you nearly bump into some random ram horned girl

**_= = = > PAST ARADIA: You shouldn’t be here!! Go back to your own timeline!!!!_ **

Your name is ARADIA MEGIDO. You are five sweeps old, and have a love of adventuring and playing games with your friends, particularly an extremely good friend of yours named TAVROS. You used to FLARP all the time together as part of Team Charge, but then the unthinkable happened.

Vriska mind controlled Tavros off of a cliff, and he hit his head so hard that they had no choice but to cull him to put him out of his misery.  

Your name is ARADIA, and while you don’t have much knowledge of timelines or the game that you will one day play with your friends, ghosts have been telling you that you’re all doomed anyway, so you’ve come to teach Vriska a lesson she won’t be forgetting. Unfortunately, you haven’t been able to find her anywhere! That’s when a lady with her symbol pointed her out to you in these weird, shifting bubbles. Usually you would have been a little more cheerful about having so many places to explore, but it’s a little different. You have a mission ahead of you.

You’ve been following her. She looks a lot older than she said she was, but you don’t doubt that she would lie to you, after everything’s said and done. That’s just who she is- and even though you tried to look past it, it’s hard to now. 

You told Sollux you’d be careful, and you will. You know you have a chance to get her back now, and then hopefully you all can look past this and… you can learn to kind of live with it. You can still hear Tavros, after all, so it’s not like you’ve lost him for  _ good _ \- you’ve just lost him before he could grow up to do something awesome and amazing for the Empire. Now, he’ll never grow up, and you’re going to make her pay for this.

You don’t know much about timelines or parallels to things that might have once happened, but you use your powers to call upon all the spirits who had their lives ruined by Vriska

**_= = = > VRISKA: Walk in on the shit show outside._ **

Your name is VRISKA, and this goddamn bubble is getting you fucking nowhere!!!!!!!! Here you thought that you had something at least a little interesting, and then that asshole leaves (somehow with part of the bubble???????? How the hell did he manage to get that picture????????) and anything interesting about this stone room is taken with him. Nothing moves in these bubbles. You thought that maybe then it’d be easier to find a scrap here, since Dave was supposed to be part of Lord English’s bullshit self fulfilling prophecy, but all you’ve found are frozen wastes. 

And the weirdest part of all- you can’t find any dead Daves. Usually that would be enough, but once he was taken out of this universe, it’s almost as if the other versions of him disappeared from existence.

Considering what you’ll have to do, this is probably a troubling development for some people- for you, all you can think about is good riddance! All of these ghosts never served a purpose anyway, so better that they all get eked from existence like they were supposed to in the first place instead of sticking around in these tentacle held bubbles, constantly reliving shit. No more dead hate-friends, no more dead human kids that get weird and freaked out whenever you approach, and best of all, no more fucking dead Vriskas with weird personality changes coming from seemingly fucking nowhere. The more you don’t have to deal with that shit, the better.

You don’t find anything in this bubble, even though you spend some time grunting and groaning because not even a shitty paper picture will move for you. Oh well. It’s a lost damn cause- you’ll just have that Dirk guy come in here to do the dirty work, maybe just close the door on him. If the bubbles want him, they can have him until he figures out how to fulfill what they want. You easily open the door and the bubble lets you out into the next

And you have to stop and stare for a moment because what in the fuck????????

The bubble’s still the same, but this time it’s absolutely lousy with a crowd of shitty ghosts! Or at least, you think they’re ghosts- upon closer inspection, all the Aradias in the audience seem not only pretty young but also very much alive. You know that there’s supposed to be some weird shit going on with the timelines, but why the hell are these guys even here? 

Then you have a look through all the holes on the side of the crowd and you understand, while simultaneously understanding absolutely fucking nothing. Each one has ghosts coming through- and not the ghosts of your friends, which watch you with these… looks, on their faces, accusing, blood pouring from twenty different orifices and painting the ground in some shitty disgusting rainbow that you have a feeling Gamzee would get a kick out of. Maybe if he’s nearby, you could have a shield for yourself to move through the crowd.

One Aradia steps forward, small and round, looking just as lively as the day she died. “Vriska- you have some answering to do for all of this!” Her arm sweeps out towards the crowd gathered around her, and you almost have to laugh. Because all this? It’s all just ridiculous! You’ve already had revenge served to you- this is all basically child’s play.

They can’t even get all those ghosts in from their timelines. Patheeeeeeeetic. 

You float up, because you don’t have time to deal with shit that’s already over. Because it  _ is _ over- sure, you crippled and killed people you once considered your closest friends, big whoop! Plenty of people have done worse, and it’s not as if you go around doing blatantly evil shit like killing ghosts. You’ve turned over your new leaf and had the entire arc already- you’re done. You’re a hero. You don’t need to sit there and apologize when you’ve never been sorry in your goddamn life for anything like this!

You’re about to just taaaaaaaake the luck from the lot of them, use this weird chaos to help you on your journey, but you stop mid snap, a vile taste in your mouth.

Tastes like… not guilt. Never guilt. You killed who you did already- there’s no changing that. 

_ /”I’ve killed a friend before too. Have you?”/ _

Nothing happens because in that moment, all the Aradias fall silent. Not stone cold dead silent, but fast asleep silent. There’s confused murmurs from the crowd as… oh fuuuuuuuuck no, not this bitch.

(Vriska) steps forward, braids flipping slightly over one shoulder, garish tattoo still showing in the fake sun that doesn’t actually exist. She snapped her fingers and all these little shits went to sleep. Looks like someone’s been getting tips from someone. She bends down, and you hear her mutter, “Okay, nap time……..” before picking the nearest Aradia up gingerly. She looks at the crowd as she holds onto the Aradia, looking tired. You hope that when you claim your prize and go through, this bitch is the first to disappear.

“Hey, soooooooorry to burst your bubble,” She gives a half hearted grin, so sickly sweet that you feel your fangs rotting out. “But you all are kind of late to the revenge party! It’s been over for a couple years now, so if you want anything, I’d go back to your timelines. Make sure to teach me a lesson, you got that????????” 

Doesn’t she remember how fucking much it hurt to have your eye and arm torn the fuck off???????? Why would she be wishing it on aaaaaaaany other versions of herself? God, she’s so fucking mental. She continues to speak, moving aside and gesturing to another Terezi with her head. A Terezi with white eyes and sparkly shoes. Okay, this isn’t your Terezi- your Terezi would be cackling up a storm by now, instead of just sitting there and smiling with that weird smile on her face. There’s not even any teeth involved!!!!!!!! They’re both so weird and off, and it makes you angry just looking at them, because they just can’t be you or your moirail. They  _ can’t _ .

“We have someone who’ll zap all these Aradias to their places, alright? So none of you go worrying about that!” Terezi instructs, a grin on her face. “Besides, I have a word for the Alpha Vriska here…” She turns towards you, and those blank eyes are legitimately more sickening than any pupilless red. If they came to look for you, it can only mean some bullshit is afoot. Even so, you float back towards the ground as the ghosts file away, some carrying their live Aradias gently as anything.

(Vriska) and her Terezi both approach you, walking with weird, unhurried walks. All you can do is glare at the both of them, arms crossing over your chest as you mentally groan for even giving them any kind of attention. “Alright. Fiiiiiiiine. You’ve got my attention, so spit it the fuck out- I’ve got a lot of iiiiiiiirons in the fire, plans to do- you wouldn’t know about that anymore.”

(Vriska) doesn’t even acknowledge your scathing remarks, and that just pisses you off all the more. “We found this and figured that you might get something out of it.” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a way too familiar white orb. It glitches slightly, with multicolored pieces of stardust getting all mixed in there, but it looks as usable as anything else in these shitty bubbles if you would just use the side that’s not glitching so badly. “With all the shit we have going on, we have other things to be doing, like herding these poor guys back to their timelines.” 

You’re about to say something when she just turns away, this weird, upset look on her face as she hands the orb over to Terezi. Then she shuffles off after the group, telling you both, “I’m getting Jade now.”

“Heeeeeeeey, c’mon now! I thought we were having a chat!!!!!!!!” You hate getting left hanging, and even though you hate this bitch you hate being blown off even more. You’re about to storm after her when this Terezi stops you, pushing you back a bit and holding out the orb. 

“Hey, leave her the hell alone!” She frowns, eyebrows furrowing, “We have enough on our plate as is. We really, really don’t need to deal with the amazing immortal wriggler right now, so please just take this, will ya?” The words are so damn out of left field, with some animosity that yeah, you recognize. You really did hate each other before John clocked you, huh? Even so, you snatch the white crystal ball away and glower at this Terezi. The real Terezi wouldn’t be such a little bitch about these things. “Thank you. Now, just a word of advice-”

She gets really close to your ear and whispers, “If you fuck up this timeline with your shitty hero’s complex, I want you to know while you’re dying that it’s all  _ your fault _ .”

With that, she turns around and starts leaving. For a moment, you aren’t even sure how the hell to even react to that, because it seems so damn sudden. Then, you try to follow after to give her a piece of your damn mind, when her, (Vriska), and the entire congregation are zapped away in a sea of green electricity.

You’re left alone in that dreambubble, steaming, tempted not to even uuuuuuuuse this piece of shit because it can’t be anything useful! At the same time though, you’re never one to go unprepared for shit like this, and any reason to let yourself have an advantage is useful.

So you captulogue the crystal and move 

 

**_= = = > ???: See_ **

 

_ You do not have a name, because Time no longer exists and therefore age does not matter.  _

 

_We thank you for using Crocker Corp’s latest in Crystal Tech and we would like to remind you to_ _use all safety precautions_ _while using our product. Recently we have added a new interdimensional_ _feature, allowing users to_ _see the sights of other universes with_ _no interruption from outside sources._

Your name is 

 

ߐ߯߂߬ߊ߮ߤ߲ߡ߫߃߮߹͇ߙ߫߳͘ߑ߱ߗ߮ߒ߮ߠ߳ߦ߲ߓ߲߮߯ߧ߮ߦ߳ߪ߳ߛ߰ߏ߲߸߲߲̤᷀͆ߊ߲̘߫߭߬߷̡ߨ߬߸ͅߍ߲ߝ߫߬߳ߎ߮߯߱ߵ͟ߪ߱߱߯

And you have no idea what the hell is ġ̝̔oing̻̼    
  


☇♅☵☖☴☐☳☨☍♟☫☹♗☱☲♑♡☌☘★ ☘♨☕♞♣☴♌☹☛♤☔♆♔☩☟☬☞♬♄♈♘☮♕♌ ☝☻♡♣☞☠☝☱♔☑♜♡♕☟☴☋☄♆

 

_ Your name is KARKAT VANTAS and there is something really fucking  _

_ẃ͢ŕo͞n̨͘g̨̛_  
  
---  
  
 

_ With this  _ **_kid_ ** _ or maybe its with  _ **_you_ ** but you have no

♃♈♩ ☔♗ ☲♦♒

  
  


ERROR  
  
---  
  
 

**_We’re sorry- those you have tried to see do not exist yet, and even this Crystal does not yet exist within the realm of logic. We apologize for the inconvenience, and instead bring you the plot that everyone has been waiting for._ **

**_We hope you enjoy._ **

**_= = = > CALLIOPE: Speak._ **

Your name is CALLIOPE, though not the Calliope that others may immediately think of when they hear the name. When ancient texts and murals from your childhood speak of you, they speak of the Muse, dancing along with eight of your kind, mouth overflowing with the eloquence of poetry, texts not unknown to the Gods. When the Gods speak of you, it isn’t really you- it’s another version, a culmination of the kindness and integrity of every other Calliope in existence, living with something that you have lost long ago.

At times, you wonder what exactly you’ve lost to be able to orchestrate the end. Innocence, kindness, youthful naivete. You are perhaps older than time itself, and you must be, because Space is infinitely lonely and infinite in scope, just as Time is infinitely endless and infinitely populous. One’s demise precipitates the other’s, and that is all there is to it.

The end will come, of course, whether you finish paradox space’s swan song or not. 

You sit alone on a gear overlooking a vast ocean of red. Lava bubbles underneath you, spewing molten minerals with every  _ pop _ . Heat is at this planet’s core, molten to the point that it must be gaseous so that it doesn’t ooze out onto the surface. Everything is silent and empty. The clockwork moves no more, and all living things are nonexistent. As a bubble, it is useless, as its original memory no longer exists in this version of paradox space. Of course, memory and the bubbles were only ever supposed to be tangentially related, but everything is coiling together and falling apart. 

Still as dying stars before their final explosion. Quiet as the void between galaxies. Dull as metal can be, lava cooling below from its slow movements. Perhaps there will be rust, in time, if there were Time here. You know that this is necessary, in some distant respect, but even you are left bereft from the emotions that threaten your core.

There is movement. Not from the planet- the Land of Heat and Clockwork is still. From a visitor.

You expected her. 

“Hey- you’re the Alt-Callie, right?” Her question is foolish, and she knows it, but she speaks with such sincere politeness. You could not bring yourself to be cross with that in any case, and you confirm what you both know. Perhaps you might be amused, if you were another.

She slowly floats down, a shape draped in dark blue. Her shoes hit the ground and then she is a stain of ink against the charcoal and rust painting of what once lived. The Rogue of Void has come to shed some Light on the situation, likely at the behest of her counterpart, who is also looking to shed Light in other ways. It is good that she is the one to find you. Perhaps you can make a small game out of it, like you used to when you were small and the barren waste of the world could still be colored with the stories you used to love.

“You know something about all this.” It isn’t a question. It would be foolish for it to be a question. You think that perhaps the other you would have smiled coyly, or clapped her hands. Perhaps Calliope has picked up some gesture from the humans. You cannot smile anymore, but you pretend that you are so that you can use the time afforded to you in this one, strange diversion from the end to do something you haven’t in a very long time. 

“I do.” You tell her. You have no reason to lie. This information can help her and those others whose story is being told. She walks across the gears, shoes making a gentle tapping along the stilled gears as she moves towards you. You feet dangle above the lava below, and she joins you, sitting beside her. “I know several things. The one you seek, for instance.”

“Yeah. I figured.” She says, looking to you. You have some measure of what she expected- likely some semblance of who you used to be. A naive little girl who thought the best of everyone and would cheer on characters who to her may as well be nonexistent. Someone sure that everyone could be good, and that the only thing they need is kindness. 

_ I am no longer that girl. _

Naivete for knowledge. Kindness for understanding. Your life for your brother’s.

“Roxy Lalonde,” A name you did not know in your previous life, before that  Choice . You are glad that at least some iteration of yourself knows it now. “may we play a game?”

It catches her off guard, and she looks at you a second time. You feel her eyes. You stare at the lava below. It slows down ever more, and you know that the only reason you play this game is because either way she will know and because you will die soon. You’ve told them to have fun. Now it is your turn for a small bit of fun, a vulnerable moment. Perhaps you will see what the other you sees in these fragile creatures so willing to love that brought about her downfall.

“I suppose it is not so much of a game as a Choice. You will know all by the end of it, no matter what you choose.”

“Well, shoot- go ahead then!” Roxy says with a little smile on her lips, eyes lighting up. She is an aesthetically pleasing specimen, you will give humanity that. There are other words you can use- beautiful, pretty- but they have connotation where there should be none. There is none. You don’t know her, and after this, you never will.

So you give her your Choice. “I can tell you either a riddle or a story. If I tell you a riddle, you can ask as many questions as you like. If I tell you a story, you may ask nothing.”

“That’s not much of a game,” She says.

“That is true,” You agree, “but it is as much as I will allow.” Not for her, but for yourself. 

She thinks for a moment, and you turn your head to watch her. Her face turns towards the metal world beyond, rising high into the crimson sky as if one more story would pierce them. Nothing moves, and no bodies stir. Everything is silent and still, expanding forever onwards. It’s all so very lonely. Not just here, in this space where no one remembers but everywhere.

Then she says, “A story it is, then- you’ve always been good at those.”

Not you, you want to remind her. You are different. You haven’t told a story other than your own in a very long time. 

Now is your time to try, and gathering the fluttering pieces of information you know, you piece them all together and begin. 

“Long ago, Void used to be more than an absence. Void used to be.” She pauses and looks at you, and with her attention rapt you look ahead yourself. “It was an unsure something; something that was what everyone needed it to be. It took slow, long strides, but it continued to be until the weight of being started to crush it. Existence is a difficult thing, and Light is ever overbearing. So the Void one day ceased to be, and in that nothingness it was content. Within that nothingness, there was no need to be anything; there was only itself. 

“It happened that one day, Void felt something within itself stir. At times, it would feel parts of itself yearn for the light, for warmth and purpose. Those parts pained it greatly, as Void wants to remain absent, wants to remain to itself. Then helpful hands stole those parts away from it, and it was once again contented. What separates the errant thief from this rogue is that it’s a relationship the Void thrives in- the rogue carries away parts that it no longer wishes were part of it, whereas a thief would steal away anything that should have remained in the Void.” You give a wry smile at this, watch out the corner of your eye as her eyes blink with a strange sense of wonder. It drops. You are not used to smiling anymore. 

“This relationship continues to this very day, even as Void cries out with the force of a new threat trying to break free. One day, a being that had shattered himself across many planes of existence threw his consciousness to the Void, begging for something physical to help him leave it. The Void would only allow for small glimpses of his former self, melted beyond recognition. He should have been absorbed by now, but every piece of him is imbued with… well, let us call it  _ determination _ . The parts of his soul are desperately trying to break through, but even despite this, he holds immense power. This is the being that is able to keep your reward far from your grasp, and he is the being that will ultimately help save you all when the Earth is again wiped clean for the cycle to begin anew. One day, you all will be truly free from Lord English’s influence. I believe you humans have a saying- The third time is the charm.”

“Third time-?” She asks, then pauses. Her eyes widen momentarily as she whispers, “You don’t mean... there’s going to be another round of Sburb?”

“My lips are sealed.” You say wryly, because you do not have lips. 

“Right, no questions…” She says, then ponders a moment. Then she snaps and says, “Well, how’s this- I say a conclusion I’ve drawn up and then you tell me if I’m right or not! Then I’m not askin’ any kind of question, and it’s just your chance to put me on the right path if I start veering off course.” Perhaps this is slightly in violation of the game, but you will allow it. If only to make sure that the timeline remains intact.

“I will allow it.” 

“Alright, cool beans,” She says, biting her lip a bit as she thinks it all over. “So the guy in the Void is Gaster, and he’s keeping us out of our universe…. To get something out of us.”

“Yes.”

“A body?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.”

“Alright… So then, when we get to our new Earth, there’s going to be another round of Sburb. One that this Gaster guy is going to be a part of somehow.”

“Yes.”

“He’s in the bubbles, isn’t he.”

“Correct again.”

“So if he’s in the bubbles, then he’ll be a player…” You wait. She thinks this over for a moment longer, and then her eyes close as she lets out a, perhaps long suffering, breath. “And Frisk has a dreamself too. God, please tell me they aren’t....”

You wait again for a moment to see if she says anything more. She stares down at her hands for a moment, perturbed. You tell her, “I’m afraid so.”

She takes a breath in, steadying herself as she scratches idly at one forearm. Then, she looks up at you, gaze focused and determined. You knew that inevitably you would have to face with one last request, and she makes it without hesitation. Her eyes are strong and clear. Her voice never wavers. “Can you get this Gaster guy to meet with us?” Your expertise has its limits, though profoundly far off, and this isn’t in the realm of your powers. Truthfully, you do not know if Gaster will show himself, especially if he feels as if this little bargain isn’t fulfilled. However, you do know that a strong case can be made so that everything moves along quicker, and you nod in ascent.

Roxy stands, then. She doesn’t look at you for a moment, staring off towards the horizon. Then, she asks one more thing- “Callie, why is everything so off here?”

You stand, and answer, “That wasn’t part of the story or the game. You’d be better off asking the Seer of Light.

“Ah.” Is all she says. The two of you stand there for a silent moment longer, and you mentally tally up the points. There are no points to tally. You don’t have any deeper understanding, and you have regained nothing. 

You feel younger than you have in centuries. 

“If you will go to one of the newly sprung bubbles, Gaster will be awaiting you. Ask for one of the sprites whom walk to act as translator.” You instruct, looking to her. “He is a man who speaks in hands, and either one of them should know- Jasprosesprite because of her aspect, Davepetasprite because of their knowledge.” You look away towards the lava and prepare to end the conversation when she is suddenly upon you, wrapping long brown arms around you and squeezing through your loose God Tier robes. 

“Thanks, Callie.” She speaks deceptively cheerfully, for such a somber quiet to her tone. “You’re a real life saver, you know that?”

This is a question, you think. You don’t answer it. You used to think that you would have loved hugs, as a child, trying to hug the little gifts that came down whenever Caliborn hadn’t shredded them. You think that another version of you must adore them. As is, there is nothing to feel from them. You aren’t meant for this kind of affection- you’ve come to terms long ago- and this hug is meant for someone else.

“Take care of her.” You say, and she nods. Roxy understands who you mean. “She always did want to be able to hug someone.”

The human pulls away and lets out a slow, shuddering breath, before ascending up. You watch as she slowly floats upwards, towards the bleeding sky, dark ink skin and dark ink clothes blotting against the cloudy hide of the atmosphere. Then she disappears from the bubble completely.

You are once again left alone in the bubble. You stand on a gear that no longer turns, over a sea losing its fire as the memory of its burn is forgotten to this space. You look up at the bleeding sky, hanging heavy, and bare your burden until the end.

_ It was fun while it lasted. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed that because next chapter is gonna be super long and super jam packed with action! Finally, we get to see Gaster!!!
> 
> Also, a quick thank you to Gravity Rocks for the great fanart!! :o I absolutely loved it!!! here it is!!!


	12. Part 11: More Build Up, and the First Rolling Thunder of the Oncoming Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhhhhhhh finally got it all sorted out!! Here we are, the newest installment, and I gotta say... next chapter is gonna literally be titled "All Hell Breaks Loose" with the amount of plot that's suddenly shoved in and with the amount of character arcs and the like beginning to straight up explode haha
> 
> Finally, we get to the Gaster meeting!! Lord it was fun writing him, and today, we finally learn his goal, along with the turning up of a mysterious book..........
> 
> Sorry again for the delay, but now that summer's here I should be able to update more often, and I'll definitely try to get more of this planned as college is just around the corner for me. I'll be starting freshman year in August!! Man I'm excited, haha, but with all the bio and pre-med coursework I'm taking on, it may get to be kinda sporadic with updates again, sorry :(
> 
> Still, thank you all for sticking with me so long, and here's the newest chapter!!

**_= = = > KARKAT: Realize you just fucked up_ **

Your name is KARKAT VANTAS, paradox space’s personal waste container for every single shitty thing it’s ever had to create crammed into one festering boil on the otherwise perfect ass of God, and, surprise surprise, you just so happened to fuck up. Again.

Really, you shouldn’t even be surprised at this point. If paradox space needs something invariably fucked up, it throws the ball into your court to be absolutely incinerated by sheer virtue of the fact that you can’t for the life of you do anything right. What you do get right, it invariably comes and fucks everyone over, on sheer virtue of someone else’s meddling fucking up something that was already teetering so close to the edge that you’re legitimately surprised that those few things hadn’t taken a nose dive when you got done molesting them with your shitty fingers.

It’s all supposed to be easier, now that shit’s not supposed to be wrecked and English is dead. Generally this is the moment when you’re supposed to actually enter the Door instead of having some mobius bullshit reach from beyond to fuck it all over. But of course, because everything seemed determined to snatch everything away just as you thought that everything would be fine for once, you’re all stuck here, and now you’re stuck babysitting this little human grub who really doesn’t have any fucking boundaries. It’s like Equius if he were compressed down into a less sweaty, peach colored package of invasion- the kid doesn’t talk, and when they do give some form of communication it’s to further their own little agenda. You just hope to every winged god in the universe that this agenda doesn’t include sweaty museums and horse clocks.

Of course, it’d be pretty fucking hypocritical of you to talk about going along with this kind of repulsive little gremlin just because you feel you have to. You have ulterior motives, like practically everyone else here, and anything you can find out is something that’ll help you blaze a couple metals in the fire to help everyone instead of sitting around like a useless pile of shit like the last few years you’ve been spending. You know that any earlier blame placed on Dave’s apparent ability to neutralize you is unfair, and really, this is all on you somehow. You should have stepped up and been a leader, instead of letting the person with the complex take charge of shit when she can barely contain the ego she has festering under that blue-collar hardened with extra chitin on the right shoulder. It’s amazing, how much bullshit Vriska has contained in her compressed form, especially since she’s smaller than you now.

So what is today’s fuck up? Well, other than the fuck up of allowing your continued existence, the fuck up of not keeping a closer eye on Dave and the fuck up of waiting until now to collect your shit in at least a somewhat subtle semblance of something trollian instead of doing it immediately, your fuck up of the second is that you have no goddamn clue where you are. 

Neither does the kid, to be fair, but then again they’re a literal wriggler and have never even seen half of the shit you have. Of course they wouldn’t know their way around the bubbles. Dammit, it would have been smarter to get someone else on board to teleport you places instead of go on this wild honkfeather foul fowl writhing chase that you’re currently running on with this human child by your side. At the very least, it would have cut down on time while actually giving you a little less work, but no, your shitty ego flared up again and you’d convinced yourself that you can basically do it on your own. Because why the hell else would you do anything otherwise, if not to somehow be orchestrating the moment where it bites you in the ass?

The bubble you’re in is one of Meenah’s, you’re pretty sure. As soon as you see the solid gold statue of Meenah up on the balcony of a nearby castle, you’re so sure it’s one of Meenah’s that it actively hurts your entire shit self to even think about it being any other obnoxious braid wearing pinkie. The human points at the statue, probably asking who that bitch is, and you tell them, “She’s just some headstrong fish bitch. Not too bad of a person, actually, which is pretty damn surprising given what she becomes in my timeline.” But that shit isn’t for you to unload on a wriggler, so for once you find it in yourself to shut your trap and keep on going.

It’s only after what seems like twenty goddamn sweeps and seventeen more bubbles when Frisk, who already was lagging behind because of their chronically short legs, tugs on your sleeve to try and get the both of you to rest for a goddamn moment. If you were yourself literally one day ago, you might have deigned to stop for a rest, since usually the asshole telling your dumb ass to slow down is Dave and if anyone knows what it’s like to push themselves past the limit, it’s Strider. This little shit, though, is nothing like him, and no matter what they’ve been through you doubt it could be much worse than what Dave went through. Not that Karkat liked paying particular attention to what had happened to Dave- it always left a disgusting, rancid taste in his mouth as if he’d accidentally scorned Crabdad and gotten a shitty cut of half rotten meat in a passive aggressive invitation to fight over whatever trivial thing got that impressive white carapace bent.

You turn to snap at them, but they’re pointing off in the distance, where flashing orange and green light shines through the grass. You’re fairly sure you’re in a dreambubble of one of those four other humans that’re related to your four assholes. You hope you don’t find the pointy Strider- if you see him one more goddamn time being weird and off, you might just straight up rip out his throat, if not for the transgressions of his shit alternate self then for the fact that he made Dave worry in the first place and wind himself into knots over it.

You hear the near silent rustle and the surefire sound of roleplay before you see them. “*AT lays low in the grass, wings clenched tight to their back and claws extended in preparation for the hunt……. And then they pounce!!!” 

In that moment, you’re suddenly knocked onto your ass by a hyperactive glowing blur of feathers and horns, lanky arms wrapping around you as they shove their cheek against yours and nuzzles, a chirping purr raising in their thoracic cavity the entire time. Frisk stumbles back and then covers their mouth with their hands, shoulders shaking with breathy laughter as you try to push the damnably happy Sprite^2 off of you, because dammit all. This isn’t what you need!

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST RIDING A SIDEWINDING UNICYCLE THROUGH THE UNHOLY HEAT OF THE ALTERNIAN SUN AT SUMMER’S APOGEE, WHAT THE FUCK--”

“Shh!!” Davepetasprite^2 whispers, slapping a hand over your mouth. “That’s enough bad language outta you, mister! We have a kid here now, and I know you enjoy talking and talking and  _ talking  _ ‘til someone tries to silence that voice since it’s the cat’s meow, but we gotta watch it!! There’s a wriggler watching and stuff. Wouldn’t wanna scar them fur life.” 

You bite their hand like any sane troll and bite out, “I think something else already got to them before that, asshole!” You pause for a moment to consider. “... Assholes…?”

“No, just one asshole here!” Davepeta says, fluttering themself up and hovering in the air in an obnoxiously energetic and jittery way. “Oh great, now your mouth infected me too. Way to go, Karkitty, way to teach young and im-purr-essional youth the basics of your dumb stuff. I’d say this is ironic, but it’s not, since we all knew this was coming at least twenty miles away.” They pause for a moment before descending to the ground, looking to Frisk. “But don’t mind him!! Karkitty’s just constantly throwing a hissy fit--”   
  
“AM NOT!” You hiss.

“-- so just ignore him! Now, what are you doing here now?” 

The human wriggler holds out a hand and takes out the notebook they’d had the foresight to hold onto in their sleep, before scribbling something down on it. Davepeta had a look, before humming. “Oh, hm. Now that’s an order taller than the Empire State Building being expanded fur the next steampunk sci-fi sensation and topped off with the dicatomy of a thousand empirical word smiths duking it out over which aesthetic to go with. But funny enough, I was heading there myself- my kinda-sister is actually playing translator for Gaster, so I can play translator for you!!”

Okay, so that’s at least one thing that’s going at least better than most of what happens to you. You have a translator, even though Frisk could have translated just fine- until you realize you’re a colossal fucking dunce with a thinkpan melting at the corners because no, they wouldn’t, because even if they knew sign language the human  _ didn’t fucking speak why didn’t you realize sooner. _

Once again, your own fucked up pan causes you to realize that you’re an idiot. As much as you really don’t want to deal with his halfbaked phony version of Dave and your former dead goddamn friend smushed together like some last minute narrative stealing from whatever wriggler television show is popular at the time just to get Davesprite and Nepetasprite out the fucking way, they can actually translate and speak at the same time, making this wriggler effectively useless. Damn the kid and their apparent affinity for manipulation. Or more accurately, damn yourself and your own shitty need to prove yourself at the expense of common sense now that you’ve been out of the leader gig for sweeps.

“Well, I could lead you over to where Gaster is gonna be showing up- so come on!!” 

Still, even as you follow along with this furry amalgamate of some of the closest people in your life, you can’t help but feel something prickle at the back of your neck. Like someone, out there, is watching you both with the hatred burning at the core of a thousand suns. But hell, that would be absurd- the only one with enough hatred like that for you is yourself, and even words can’t describe how much the earlier metaphor underestimated it.

So you ignore the feeling and step into a set of bubbles you’ve never seen before...

**_= = > FRISK: Eavesdrop and transcribe with your new cat-bird buddy_ **

Now that you have everything worked out and Karkat looking out for the both of you, that much you can do. 

The relative darkness of Waterfall provides you all with cover. The glow of Davepetasprite through the gloom and the far off dim light of Jasprosesprite where she was floating alongside Roxy casts shadows along the cave wall, making strange shapes with the mixing glow of the echo flowers. You don’t know how exactly these dreambubbles work, or if this is even your memory at all, but seeing this place again gives you a sense of comfort that you haven’t really gotten since you appeared in this entirely new universe plane. 

Your name is FRISK, and with how family everything is, you half expect a hailstorm of spears to meet the lot of you. Of course, it will never happen. Even if the ghosts could somehow be translated in your memory, monsters don’t even have strong enough souls in the first place to leave a ghost behind. All they leave is memories and dust.

Everyone is waiting in tense silence. Jasprose and Roxy don’t know that you, Davepeta, and Karkat are hiding out in the tall grass. They don’t know about Karkat having to rip his own alternate self apart. They don’t know they have eavesdroppers. But you’re sure that they do know Gaster when he starts to bubble out from the yawning darkness beyond, still and silent, darker and darker and darker still. A chill runs down your spine at the sight.

Now that you have a clearer view of him and now that things aren’t going so fast, you can see just how broken he seems. He drips his large, amorphous black body, trailing on the ground behind him. His face peeks out from dripping ink of his form, stark white against a yawning void ripped straight in the center of the bubble, and his hands move in a blur. Davepeta taps your head and gestures to the notebook clenched tightly in your fists, and you nod. It’s going to begin now, you think. Time to finally see just what the heck is going on.

You begin to write, using script to make things go faster. Jasprose begins to translate, and Davepeta joins them in quiet unison as they peer out of the brush.

 

_ ROXY _ : Hey, so you’re Gaster, right? The skeletal fucker that’s caused all this hullabaloo?   
_ GASTER:  _ Yes… I am Gaster. I took your friend, and for that I do apologize. But he was needed.

_ R:  _ What do you mean?

_ G:  _ His SOUL is very unique among the lot of you. While you all have the strongest souls of any human I have yet to encounter, his holds the most potential. The Dave human will free all of monsterkind- and all without putting it in jeopardy.

 

Your gut clenches at this.

 

_ R:  _ We don’t know much ‘bout monsters, around here- we don’t have anything like your kind. Or if we do, they’re not nearly as articulate.

_ G:  _ I am aware… But things are a little different there. There, monsters have families and roles and Kings. Our King has grieved long for the ills of his people and humanity. I… I, too, had a family of sorts. 

 

Gaster glitches for just a moment, and Frisk looks up in the beat of silence to see the ink dripping faster down his face. Then, he puts himself back to rights with a low digital static and looks expectantly to Roxy. 

 

_ R:  _ … Look. I’m real sorry about all that. About this apparent suffering in your people and about your family. But what the hell did taking Dave do about it? Why leave Frisk? Especially when it’s not time for them to play this god forsaken game yet. This isn’t their universe to try and leave. They’re supposed to be leaving yours in the future.

 

You don’t have any idea why she would be telling Gaster this, or what it means for you. But it does leave a cold twist in your gut.

 

_ G:  _ I must admit, I do not know everything about the quantum mechanics of this… game. But I do know the SOUL rather well, and if there’s one thing I can do, I can explain that much.

_ G:  _ A human SOUL is a powerful thing. My former assistants and I long ago discovered that there is a key element to every SOUL-  **Determination** . The will to live. The will to, against all odds, persevere in the face of the greatest of... hardships. The power that humans hold deep in their blood that makes them conquerors, passionate fighters, and survivors of the greatest tragedies.

_ G:  _ In that regard, coming into contact with the Cherub woman was a godsend. With her explanations on these… aspects, of yours, I was able to determine the two aspect holders who would not only match the determination of the previous seventh Fallen Human to come into the Underground, but to have enough power in their souls to break the Barrier and weaken it significantly across all timelines. Through this, in other timelines, only one human soul would be needed to break the barrier and free us once and for all.

_ R:  _ And those aspects were…?   
_ G:  _ Space and Time. Ironically the things that make up the fabric of all universes, and what traps me now.

_ R:  _ I… wouldn’t be so sure ‘bout that last part, G. You seem to be pretty entrenched in the Void right now. Scattered to bits and splinters of your own SOUL.

_ G:  _ You are correct, but so am I.

 

There was another beat of silence. Your foot has long since fallen asleep, and your hand is cramping a little bit from where it’s clenching the colored pencil you’ve been using to write their words down with. Karkat looks out behind you, glowing eyes sweeping out to make sure the lot of you are truly alone. It’s all tense, and in a way, so wrong that it nearly makes you sick.

 

_ R: …  _ You know that without Dave, things are starting to get weird here, right?

_ G:  _ I am aware. The cherub explained it- four Time and four Space players made up eight separate pillars that slow the destruction of this universe. If I were to have taken the girl, due to her aspect, everything would have been sped up with atoms ripping apart at the seams from the very center of all the conflict.

_ R:  _ ...

_ G:  _ A Big Rip event would tear you and this entire universe apart in a matter of hours. This way, you all have time. At least for now.

_ R:  _ Then why the hell won’t you just let us into our universe?! 

 

The loud, suddenly angry tone makes you jump, and Davepeta rests one strange pawhand on your head, petting. They still are looking out towards the scene, so you fumble with your pencil and keep going.

 

_ R:  _ You say that you’re giving us time, so that we don’t die. You act as if taking Dave and keeping us out is the only way- why not just ask us when we got to your universe? Why not just try to communicate with us now so we can figure out a plan of attack, instead of holding all of us hostage and possibly putting the life of a  _ regular human child  _ in danger?

_ G:  _ Insurance.

 

There is another pause, as both sprites stand stock still, translating. 

 

_ G:  _ My apologies, but I haven’t trusted humanity in a very long time. Even if you are humans not of our universe, you are human, and all humans are based on you.

_ G:  _ We attempted to trust humanity, once, and we were driven Underground for countless years.   
_ G:  _ We trusted humanity twice, and when our Prince went to the surface to honor his sibling, you all took him away from us. 

_ G:  _ I know that not all humans are evil.    
_ G:  _ That human child isn’t. Your Dave human isn’t. You may not be.

_ G:  _ But everyone among you has the capacity to be evil, if you aren’t inherently evil already.

_ R:  _ So is that what you’re going to do. Are you going to keep us all here until Dave figures it out? What if he never does? Then that means all of us will die. You as well, because there’s no way in  _ hell _ I’m letting you get away with this.

_ G:  _ Then that is a risk that I am more than willing to take. 

 

There’s another long moment of silence, where the lowest moan of agony could be heard from the deep black beyond where the light of their guides and the flowers could reach. Around them, the echo started just as Jasprose and Davepeta spoke- “Then that’s a risk I’m more than willing to take,” “A risk I’m”, “willing to take” repeated on loop, whispered back at them. You shudder as Gaster’s low moan is echoed back around you, on all sides, a reminder of the agony of monsterkind condensed into something for just the lot of you alone.

 

_ R:  _ … Fine then. If that’s how you’re going to play it… Let us help. Let us find a way to help across universal boundaries, so that Dave can get done faster. The faster he finishes beating this entire game’s worth of nonsense, the faster your kind will be free, and the faster we can get back. 

_ G:  _ That is a marvellous offer, and I thank you. This will go much more smoothly if we all work together. 

 

After that, there’s a groan, and you look up to see Gaster’s form flickering. His bony fingers twitch, face finally twisting with some sort of pain.

 

_ G:  _ Hero of Void, I’m afraid my time is up for now… It appears as if your powers helped me remain for longer than I would have otherwise, here. 

_ R:  _ Wait! We’re supposed to be working together on this!   
_ G:  _ We will… We will, but please, next time- next time bring the Seer. And the Heir. And… the Hero of Hope… You will need them.

_ R:  _ Hey, wait--!

_ G:  _ Goodbye, all… I will see you soon enough.

 

And with that, Gaster is gone, dissolving yet again into the darkness. Roxy moves forward in the blink of an eye, or maybe she teleports, but there’s nothing to greet her but cave wall and the glowing stones on the ceiling shining like stars. 

“Dammit all…!” Roxy mutters, before turning back to Jasprose. The sprite looks strangely somber, which doesn’t seem to fit the mischievous expression she had been wearing all earlier, before Gaster had appeared. “Jasprose, wake me up. We’re all gonna need to have a big meeting about what I just learned here… and if you can, get the shark tooth sisters and Jadey up too!! They need to be in on this! We don’t have much time, it seems like.”

“Of course,” Jasprose purrs gently, almost soothingly, as she reaches into her pocket for the stardust. 

You close the notebook and tug on Karkat’s sleeve. You both got what you wanted- and now you just have to figure out how best to help. With an uncharacteristically (from what you see, anyway) quiet nod, Karkat picks you up and starts sneaking back through the grass. 

**_= = > DAVE: Finish up exploring, you have a boss fight to win!!_ **

Nah. For one thing, you’re still kind of reeling after that entire exchange with Sans in Grillby’s, so you’ve mostly been chilling with the locals. You’ve learned so far that apparently the horse with anime shades has a thing against city slickers, that this town has a fucking tourist industry of all things, and that a skeleton running to a blue fish woman is basically what constitutes as politics around here. So not only is there Monster Alcohol and Monster Capitalism, there’s an entire Monster Economy. It makes you wonder just how big this fucking cave is. Do they have Monster Overpopulation?

Okay, not important, and even then, you can already hear Karkat or Chara in the back of your head going  _ “Just because you put the word monster/troll in front of something doesn’t mean it’s something we have Jesus Christ” _ , which is kinda not a pleasant thought, because it just reminds you of the fact that you really don’t have much time to be exploring jack shit around here.

You’re starting to doubt that any of your friends were down here- after all, you woke up underneath a giant ass hole in the ground, and it’d make the most sense for the lot of you to have spawned up on the surface. So for right then, until you find any other holes in the dirt sky, you figure that assuming everyone is up on the surface is probably your best bet, meaning that you have a shit ton more journeying through this Underground to do. And maybe some research, now that you think about it- it’s better to know what you’re getting into than to just keep running in blindly.

You finally leave the warm, grease saturated air of the diner, only to come face to face with the Monster Kid. Oh, shit. You forgot about him. And he’s supposed to be taking you on a great, grand tour of this tourist trap of a town. The last thing you want to do right then is deal with any kind of tour, well intentioned though it may be- you’ve always been a kind of “go with the flow and stick it to the man like John Hughes would have wanted” type a’ guy, and being carted around town was not conducive to your cool guy image. Besides, you’ve already lost enough cool as is- you need the alone time to sort of chill the fuck out and maybe find the source of the chill pills that have to be made in this entire frosty snowglobe looking town.

“Hey there Dave!!” The little monster says, head bobbing excitedly in greeting since he can’t exactly wave to you. “Alright, you ready for that super awesome tour around town?!”

“Uhh, yeah, about that- I actually gotta be skipping town soon.” You tell him, feeling vaguely guilty about the entire thing. “You know how it is- I’m a drifter, got nothin’ else to my name but the clothes on my back and this kickass sword. Shit gets downright nomadic, with all the hunting and gathering I gotta end up doing. Sorry dude, I gotta bounce harder than a rapper hitting rock bottom after his first successful album and get the hell outta dodge.”

The monster in front of you deflates a bit, and even though you feel vaguely bad, he takes it pretty well. Just bobs his head again and tries to shrug, cocking his spiked head to the side as he looks to you. “Well alright, if that’s how it’s gotta be, then I guess we can catch up there some other time!! Just come on back whenever, alright? And if you start migrating over to Waterfall, keep an eye out for Undyne-- she’s a big hero around here, and she’s sooooooo cool!!! Heck, maybe you’ll even get to meet her someday!!! Wouldn’t that be neat?”

You’re pretty sure that this isn’t the first you’ve heard of this Undyne gal, but you kind of doubt it’s the last. “Yeah, that’d be pretty goddamn sick. I’ll put ‘local heroine hunting’ up high on my bucket list for when I’m steppin’ my way through the next place over. It’ll be dope.”

“Awesome!!” Monster Kid said, thumping his foot against the ground in lieu of clapping before scattering off, looking over his shoulder to shout back, “I’ll see you around then dude!!” before faceplanting into the snowy ground. You wince and are about to go over to help him when he jumps back up, shouting back, “I’m okay!!” before beginning the mad scurry off again. Right then, Dave was left alone again with nothing but his thoughts and a cheerful little village ironically reflecting them back at him with the force of the realization that every person who laughs on those shitty laugh tracks in bad sitcoms that play every other line is fucking dead.

Well shit, if you’re gonna be a sadsack piece of shit, better channel that energy into doing something useful, like getting some mad research in so that you can know just what the hell you’re dealing with in this Underground. You have a feeling that no one’s given you the full answers.

As you walk next door to the library (or sorry, the Librarby, which kind of makes you worried that these guys aren’t actually literate in the Queen’s goddamn English), you can’t help but feel a prickle on the back of your neck…

**_= = > DAVE: Enough lollygagging now-- let’s get this boss battle underway!!_ **

Nah. You’ve already been getting cozy in this little library, chilling where all the books are. Shit’s actually been a bunch of interesting reads- like apparently King Homicide, for all his child murdering tendencies, can’t name for shit. It’s a good thing he never kept any kids of his own because they’d probably all end up with shitty names like “Human” or “Child”. There was some more explanation on the puzzles around the place, and then the fact that monster bodies were made pretty much entirely of magic. Which meant fuck biology, because their souls could flip it the middle finger and pretty much do what it wanted, including making skeletons or draconic goat ladies.

There’s a line in the orange book that catches your attention, though.  _ The crueler our enemy’s intention, the more their attacks hurt us. If a being with a powerful SOUL was struck with the desire to kill…  _ It ended there, but you can guess what it’s getting at. You can read between the lines. Suddenly, the toy knife you found in the Ruins seems a little more ominous. Did it mean that… anything could become a weapon, if someone wanted it enough?

If anything could be a weapon, then how would a monster react with an actually deadly sword?

You don’t want to think about it anymore, so you blindly reach for another book, one done up in dark green, and flip to a random page.  _ Love, hope, compassion… This is what people say monster SOULs are made out of. But the absolute nature of SOUL is unknown. After all, humans have proven their SOULs don’t need those things to exist. _

When you choose a red book to try and escape the shitty feeling that eats at your stomach, especially after that earlier conversation with Sans, it’s about fucking monster funerals of all things. Maybe that’s enough research for now.

**_= = > DAVE: NOW go and face Papyrus for an epic showdown!!_ **

Wait. You just caught a flash of light from the corner of your eye. 

You turn to where the shelf had an empty slot as the blue light fades, and in its place was a book with a black, nondescript cover. You cautiously pick it up, just in case the thing is gonna shoot fireballs or some shit at you, but that doesn’t happen. Actually, the entire thing feels warm to the touch, as if someone had pulled the damn thing from the microwave to make sure all that ink was toasty warm for any young impressionable fingers to dig themselves into and make a fine mess of themselves in some shitty prankster’s gambit fit to give any sane mother a fit. On the cover are white letters, reading in a slightly serious font that reminds you of some goofy asshole trying to be professional.

“That book…” Chara whispers behind you, and it’s nearly enough to surprise you. “I’ve never seen it before. It’s not something that Frisk’s gotten to read.”

**THE NATURE OF THE SOUL IN RELATION TO QUANTUM MECHANICS AND THE BODY  
** _ Dr. W.D. Gaster _

The inside cover lists the same text, except it has two more names. 

_ Sans Serif, Quantum Physics and Time Theory  
_ _ Alphys, Soul Theory and Practical Robotics _

You don’t recognize the first name, but you sure as hell know a Sans, and you’ve definitely heard the name Dr. Alphys. Suddenly, you think you’re gonna need this book for about as long as you’re there in the Underground, since just a quick little read through isn’t gonna cut it when you got a boss fight coming up.

**_= = > FINALLY!! Get to the fight!!_ **

Well that abstract means of a time skip was contrived as all hell, but who are you to complain. Sure, whoever is pushing you along missed all the quality banter between you and the bored lizard lady at the counter who looked the book over, decided it wasn’t anything in their collection, and just straight up told you to keep it. “Gotta be a pretty smart kid, to keep up with that stuff huh? Now get outta here, you little scamp. And don’t be too cold out there!”

Well now you’ve walked to the edge of town, where the fog is rolling thick. You can’t see around you, with the thickness of the mist reducing everything within a ten foot radius into the shitty shadow puppets you might find being pawned off for ridiculously overpriced prices at a flea market by some neckbeard trying to play up the vintage value of whatever junk he wanted to pawn off quickly to buy for his newest hobby. And then, the silhouette of Papyrus steps into view, long, tall, with limbs that without shape or color look slightly disconcerting.

All thoughts of this entire encounter with  _ Papyrus _ being disconcerting fly out the window when clear as day, he hears that loud cornball voice. “HUMAN. ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS.”

Oh fuck, just add some sappy music and you got the workings of some straight up anime shit right there. “Alright, fire away. I am like the messiah of emotional complexity. The labyrinth of my emotions of so deep it’s become an enigma to everyone except for me, who can totally navigate the landscape with the quick wit and audacity of any explorer taking a dive in that sweet moist cave of romance, puttin’ good old Cassanova to shame over in his grave. I have got this made.”

“I AM GLAD THAT YOU UNDERSTAND SO COMPLETELY!!” Papyrus says, and you can practically hear the smile in his voice. “THERE ARE MANY JOYS TO BE HAD, WHEN THE COMPLEX FEELINGS INCLUDE THE JOY OF FINDING SOMEONE WHO SO DEEPLY UNDERSTANDS THE NUANCES OF THE SOUL’S EXPRESSION AND EMOTION! THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHER’S PUZZLE-SOLVING SKILLS AND QUICK WIT. THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON, THINK YOU ARE COOL…”

Aw damn, now that’s some saccharine shit right there. It’s enough to bring a hand up to your heart and bat your eyelashes like a Southern dame, as if the mist didn’t completely hide your utterly ironic motion. Sure Papyrus follows it with, “THESE FEELINGS… THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU FEEL LIKE RIGHT NOW!!!” But you know what he really means because, to quote every villain ever, the both of you aren’t so different. You can sympathize with someone who deflects feelings other than superego away from them like goddamn amplified mirrors just causing the things to ricochet fuck all everywhere. 

“I NEVER WONDER WHAT HAVING LOTS OF FRIENDS IS LIKE.” So did you, you told yourself, back when you were alone with Bro. “I PITY YOU… LONELY HUMAN… WORRY NOT! YOU SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER!! THAT IS WHY, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE YOUR…!!”

Well would you look at that, you may not even have to fight here. That’s a damn relief for you, and you’re about to rub it into that invisible audience’s face and say something smooth like “well shit if we’re doing friendship confessional before one of us gets voted off the island I may as well say yes to that sick proposal, let’s go get our broship legally sanctioned and everything” when Papyrus makes like a shitty Katy Perry song and flips the switch. “...”

“Pap? Buddy?” You ask, watching the wild shake of the shadow’s head with a sinking heart. Dammit all. You actually really like this dude. Weird, stoically happy clown brother notwithstanding. 

“... NO! NO, THIS IS ALL WRONG!” Suddenly, you feel as if you’re on a Spanish soap opera, the flower in your hair shining as passionately as your tear stained cheeks as your beau turns back to you, dashing skeleton chin and majestic scarf flapping in the wind and all. You think someone somewhere would probably get off on this. “I CAN’T BE YOUR FRIEND!!! YOU ARE A HUMAN! I MUST CAPTURE YOU, SMALL AND THIN THOUGH YOU MAY BE! THEN, I CAN FULFILL MY LIFELONG DREAM!!! POWERFUL! POPULAR! PRESTIGIOUS!!! THAT’S PAPYRUS! THE NEWEST MEMBER… OF THE ROYAL GUARD!!”

Yeah you should have seen this boss fight coming. You don’t even bother trying to act surprised, because it’s not as if Papyrus has been hiding his intentions. As sweet as the guy was, as naive about the intentions of Lord Asshole and his Merry Court of Murderers, he never for a second told you that he wasn’t going to capture you. You’re hurt, sure, but you can still respect a guy who’s forthright with all his shit and doesn’t try to pull the wool over your eyes with a shitty smile that never moves or with a shitty neutral face that never gives you anything but paranoia.

_ *Papyrus blocks the way! _

The obvious choice here is to sweet talk the guy with the promise of friendship. You don’t even doubt for a second that this won’t work- this dude seems super in tune with that sort of thing. So you shoot off a line, something that sounds vaguely ironically flirty, like “Baby I can bring you much more than prestige when it comes to the friendship roulette, if you wanna give me a whirl.”

“FL-FLIRTING???” Papyrus doesn’t pick up on the irony, and whoops, you flirted with him instead. “SO YOU FINALLY REVEAL YOUR  **ULTIMATE FEELINGS** ! W-WELL! I’M A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS!”

Chara mutters in your ear, “Just tell him you can make spaghetti.”

You mutter back, “I can’t though? I can’t cook for shit. Never taught myself how.” Chsra just looks at you for a moment and you sigh, figuring that fuck it, you don’t want to deal with them getting pissy, so you may as well play their game. “I uh. I can make spaghetti.”

“OH NO!!!” Papyrus gasps, a gloved hand coming over his mouth, “YOU’RE MEETING ALL OF MY STANDARDS!!” Well that was way easier than you thought it would be. You are the master at flirting. It is you. You’re surprised that half of the known universe hasn’t already collectively fallen over their collective asses over heels in love with your obviously smooth and suave actions. You’re gonna have to use this line on Karkat sometime… “I GUESS THIS MEANS I HAVE TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU…?”

Oh damn that is not what you’re expecting. Shit, if you can get out of this fight sooner… “Hell yeah man, I’d love to go out for a night on the town, see the craziest sights Snowdin’s got to offer. My treat or whatever. We can get some more of those bomb cinnamon bunnies.”

“LET’S DATE! L-LATER!! AFTER I CAPTURE YOU!!!” You don’t see how Papyrus is gonna be doing much of that, because all of his attacks are blue and phase right through you. You stay stock still, watching them pass for a bit before smirking. 

If this is how the rest of the fight will be, you’ve basically got it in the bag. 

You press mercy, and after yet another extremely harmless attack passes you by, Papyrus snaps his fingers with some measure of frustration. “SO YOU WON’T FIGHT… LET’S SEE HOW YOU HANDLE MY FABLED BLUE ATTACK!!” 

“Weren’t you just using a blue attack?” You ask him, because what other blue attacks could there be? Oh fuck, had Sans gotten you? What an asshole. You really, really dislike that bastard something fierce right then. Not outright hate, and not to any murderous ideation, but you dislike his stupid stoic smiley face and his stupid casual nonsense tone, and you  _ especially  _ dislike his dumb japes, dammit.

“OH-HO! THAT, HUMAN, IS WHERE YOU ARE FACTUALLY INCORRECT!!” And with that, he throws a lot more blue bones at you. Pretty much like the exact first attack he threw at you. 

“...” You rub the back of your neck awkwardly when nothing continues happening, because on one hand this is some good shit. On the other, you kinda feel sorry for the guy acting so chill right about then. “So like, is this attack more bones or--” You should have kept your mouth shut, because in that instant, something happens.

Your soul suddenly shifts to a shade of blue, and then your entire body feels like lead, pulling you towards the ground as a short bone hits up against your leg where the knees landed in the snow. Suddenly, you understand the reason why your Bro made you train with weights- and it didn’t just have to do with the fact that he’d been seeing it in all his shitty Japanese animes. Because now this shit is what’s happening. God, the situations you get in.

“YOU’RE BLUE NOW!!” Papyrus gleefully informs you, and you snort, getting used to the weight. Then, you get back on your feet. “THAT’S MY ATTACK! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!”

You’re still unsteady as all hell when you get to your feet- right, you’d only just started the weight training like a couple months back in this eight year old body, so shit isn’t burned into muscle memory yet. You can still remember though. You remember every single one of Bro’s “lessons”, even though you want to forget. And you were just about to get to the point of repressing the shit out of them too. Boy this Underground sure knows how to make you nearly lose your shit.

This time, though, you’re more prepared. Back with Toriel, you’d let your guard down, which was a mistake. Now you know what to expect, for the most part. 

The bones Papyrus throw are small, easily stepped over when gravity isn’t being an asshole. Now that gravity has decided to give Dave the atomic wedgie of his life, he has to set his posture up straight, stepping quickly but carefully, trying to dredge up enough of a flashstep to be in the air for the seconds he needs to avoid the attack. He avoids every attack flawlessly, without even jumping off of the ground, and presses MERCY once again.

The bones are getting taller, but you still dodge around them with barely a look of effort crossing your face. At least, you’re fairly sure you’re not showing the strain. Papyrus looks to you, slightly worried, and sure you’re breathing a bit faster, but you’re totally fine. Nothing more to see here thank you very much. You have this entire gravity battle in the bag, even with your head basically taking on the basic properties of lead and threatening to pop from the buildup of heat starting to melt you from the inside. Papyrus cleans up his own act and goes back to looking just as determined as you’re sure you do. “Y-YEAH! DON’T MAKE ME USE MY  _ SPECIAL ATTACK _ !”

“Papyrus, do your goddamn worst my man. I can take it.” You’ll just do what you did with Toriel. Keep sparing, keep giving mercy, until they want to do a monologue and then decide to leave you the hell alone. Your breathing gets harder, and you tense, ducking underneath and around bones, dancing through the veritable graveyard coming at you. Is it you or do these seem slow? “C’mon man, if that’s your special attack, I’m disappointed.”

“IT ISN’T!  **THIS** IS MY SPECIAL ATTACK!”

You steel yourself as Papyrus raises one hand dramatically, pointing up towards the sky. There’s a sound like thunder, rumbling off someplace in the distance, and your stomach clenches at the almost mechanical sound. Your heart races, trying to pinpoint where exactly the sound is coming from.

Then off to the side of the battlefield, you spot a fluffy dog, chewing gently on a bone. You and Papyrus both stare at the cute animal for a moment, and then Papyrus springs into action, eyes popping into his sockets as he pulls an agitated face. You feel like laughing hysterically, and you might have, if not for the insistent weight on your chest weighing your soul down like a boot crushing your sternum in the Texan sun. 

“HEY!! WHAT THE HECK!! THAT’S MY SPECIAL ATTACK!!” You try to focus instead on Papyrus, stomping his foot. “YOU STUPID DOG, DO YOU HEAR ME?! STOP MUNCHING ON THAT BONE!!!” The poor wide eye looking dog starts to drag the bone away, and you let out a sigh of relief you didn’t know you were holding. Behind you, Chara is slightly alarmed, and he’s tense, still looking towards Papyrus, who says, “HEY!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!! COME BACK HERE WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!!” While Papyrus is preoccupied with that, Chara finally gets up enough for a tap on your shoulder.

“What do you want.” You ask him flatly, since you’re kind of in the middle of something.

“This is a lot more rushed than any other battle with Papyrus I’ve seen.” Chara informs you as Papyrus stares in the direction of the dog. “He even skipped the whole monologue about how he’s wondering if there’ll ever be anyone who appreciates him as much as you do-- Dave, there is something seriously, seriously troubling him. Maybe you should take a deep breath and calm--”

“I am calm,” You snap. You are the epitome of cool. You know what the hell you’re getting into, and now you don’t have any errant hypothermia or near death to hinder that. You’re cooler than Vanilla Ice, and considering the fact that everyone is cooler than him, it’s ironic that you say that because it’s unironic enough to make Vanilla Ice jokes in 2009 that it runs straight back around to irony that you use such an understatement to show your levels of cool. The ouroboros of irony. It is you. Constantly eating your own head out your own ass, forever. “Now shut up, holy shit. I’m trying to get Papyrus to mercy me or some shit.”

“Looks like you don’t have to try at all.” Chara said vaguely, bitterly, as Papyrus finally turned to you, a rather serious look on his face. You don’t like seeing that- you hate seeing guys who are so cheerful and fucking chipper have to end up solemn about some shit, especially if you’re the thing that they end up being solemn about. 

“OH WELL. I CAN SEE YOU SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS, HUMAN! SO TAKE MY MERCY, AND LET US END THIS FIGHT AND TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE WARMER, PERHAPS! EVEN WITH SOME NICE HOMECOOKED PASTA! IT’LL BE OUR FIRST DATE!”

Wait. Is it really that easy? The guy looks at you, painfully sincere, and something ugly twists in your gut. 

_ If a being with a powerful SOUL was struck with the desire to kill… _

Your blood is running cold, even though the coat and scarf around your body makes your skin feel like hot lava and gears twisting the exposed wires in your skin.  _ It’s a trick. It’s a trick. No one just turns around in the middle of a fight and offers something like that.  _ Even Toriel told you not to come back. All those monsters back there, that you spared, they all just meandered off when you were done with your fights. Papyrus hasn’t made any secret that he wants to capture you. That he wants to use you to feed that own incessant ego that he already gets fed into by that brother of his. 

“HUMAN?” Papyrus looks too concerned for it to be real, but so far none of the monsters you’ve seen have been hiding their intentions. They didn’t seem to want to hurt you. But it’s hard when the mist rolls back into your vision and you can only see a tall silhouette against the backdrop, towering over your much smaller form with the power to smash anything he wanted to, if he wanted. 

You could end this. You have a sword in your hand. You could…

The thought is shoved away with all the disgust that flares up, all the self hatred that rolls through you and pulls you into the present. Your hand hovers over FIGHT. You take it away, and ignore how tight your grip on the sword is, and shake your head, saying, “Yeah, no, I get it. Gotta get that shit squared away. So yeah, you’re. Spared or whatever.” 

The fight ends and the box dissolves. The mist clears away, and you see Papyrus, standing above you slightly worried, looking down at you with a strange expression. 

Dammit. You really are shaking in your stupid kiddie shoes. Just what the hell could cause that?

You’re about to say something, break the tense silence between the two (technically three) of you, but then you close your mouth again.

Just what in the hell is wrong with you today?

**_= = > ???: Scheme_ **

Yeah, you’ve never been one for that contrived mystery bullshit. All your bullshit is 100% organic, freshly grown from the deep set forges only spoken about in Greek myth from an especially shady back alley dealer trying to look more philosophical to prove how trustworthy and totally not about to scam some poor bastard out of fifty bucks for a gram. Cut the crap, you tell the abstract narrative framing device, and don’t leave any of these poor assholes in suspense.

**_= = > BRO STRIDER: Tag along_ **

See, now that’s much better.

Your name doesn’t matter anymore. Everyone just calls you BRO. 

You haven’t exactly been around these bubbles for long, and from what you’ve seen, there aren’t any other adults. It’s just kids as far as the goddamn eye can see, coming in three unique species flavors and advertised with shitty bright neon lights in the commercial breaks between scenes of My Little Pony. Otherwise, there hasn’t been much to do, other than try to find some sense of something familiar, guided by your only confidant. Cal hangs off of your shoulders, cackling silently in your ears, and you’ve long since learned how to decipher what he means. The perks of having this wooden little dude chilling on your person for eternity.

Right now, he’s been steering you clear of the bubbles that has Dave’s memories and shit inside. Not to try and protect whatever’s in there, of course- if Dave were trying to hide some shit, you would find out about it and confront him accordingly to sort that shit out like adults on the roof- but to protect you, because even from the outside looking in, those bubbles seem all hells of off. 

Honestly, way too much here seems off. You’re seen no less than twelve separate splinters of your own self, and while slightly disconcerting, Cal’s assured you that they don’t really matter. They may be splinters of you, but they’re fucked up, young splinters who haven’t had life shoved down their throats and confirmed for them yet. Your left hand twitches to the unbreakable katana at your side, itching to etch the lesson into them, but that’s not your goal here.

Really, what you need is some damn time to get your bearings, find something that might help you out of this multicolored open world shit hole. 

You’re about to start thinking that that’ll mean a little more work than you want to do when you spot another splinter. Cal rattles in your ear, teeth clinking together. He’s getting agitated by this little shit in particular. You draw your katana, figuring that it won’t hurt to be armed, when Cal says

_ StOp. FOLLOW THE MEAT PuPPET YOu SHARE DNA WITH. He will lead you to an escape, and you may find Dave. _

Dave. Been awhile since you saw that little asshole. Last you checked, he was getting his ass kicked because the one moment when you needed him to remember his training, he panicked and fought like worse shit than the usual. You’d be surprised that you haven’t seen any Daves, but honestly, you’re more surprised by the fact that the little man didn’t get himself killed.

Oh well. You silently start to follow your alternate self in his shitty gay crown and his stupid princely pantaloons, keeping your distance and your voice nonexistent.

You’ll get to Dave soon. Then you can catch up, and if he was as useless as you’re expecting, you can give him a piece of your mind about that. He knows you can’t stand assholes who can’t pull their own fucking weight.

_ I’m coming for you, little man. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed!! As always, feedback is very much appreciated, especially since I have a feeling I'll be tackling some big subjects in the future, especially when it comes to Dave...
> 
> Have a nice day/night/etc!!

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any requests or want to have a look at snippets of writing I haven't posted, as well as some original work, [why not have a look at my tumblr?](http://jojotier.tumblr.com/)


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